My Father's Keeper
by xenascully
Summary: Agent Dinozzo's father scams the wrong man. When he can't pay up, they try collecting from his most valuable commodity... PG opening-if even that-T or M in later chapters
1. Chapter 1

**My Father's Keeper**

Summary: Agent Dinozzo's father scams the wrong man. When he can't pay up, they try collecting from his most valuable commodity...

Rated: T to be safe...later chapters may be M.

(Thought I'd try posting by the chapter this go-around. It'll take the annoyance out of spacing mishaps lol. **And on a silly note, I'm gonna throw in the "Thwoop!" black and white still shots we get on the show before a scene starts—you know what I'm talking about. For your imaginative purposes, they'll be italicized and asterisked...so when you see it, you can think black and white thwoop shot! Ha! Really though it's gonna happen. Let me know if it's too much cheesiness for you to handle. I'll do my best to keep it real ;) )

* * *

** _Gibbs' hands are in the air as he glances over at Dinozzo's matched stance. His face shows as much confusion and panic as his boss feels, but conceals...**_

Director Leon Vance closed up his briefcase when he looked up at the clock. It was nearing midnight. It had been a long day jumping through hoops in MTAC, trying to stall for time for Agent Gibbs and his team on their latest case involving the murder of two Marines who were involved in a top secret operation. Trying to find a motive without being briefed on information surrounding the case was a difficult task.

As he made his way to the stairs toward the bullpen, he wasn't surprised to see the team at their desks going through heaps of files brought in to them by the victims' Commander. Gibbs was taking a long drink from his coffee mug as he tossed a large file down into a box next to his desk and caught sight of the dark-skinned man walking over to him.

"Smells like a Chinese buffet in here," Vance said, glancing around at the various half-eaten containers of low-mien, fried rice, and who knows what else, scattered about at each of their desks.

"Plenty of leftovers if you're hungry," Tony half-grinned as he held up a box that had chopsticks poking out the top.

"I'll pass," Vance said and turned back to Gibbs. "Find anything?" he asked him.

"Nothing that helps us," he replied, setting his mug down.

"Commander Hodges is up my ass about figuring this one out so he can give to go-ahead to his team."

"He could be risking the lives of the rest of those soldiers," Gibbs looked up at him for a moment before opening another file.

"I know that. But he's convinced it's unrelated. Either prove him right or prove him wrong."

"That's what we're trying to do, Sir," Gibbs looked up at him again with his head cocked a bit. Leon turned and began to walk out of the bullpen.

"You should think about calling it a night, soon," he said as he walked. "We have till six tomorrow evening," he reached the elevator, pressed the button, then looked back over at him. "You all should try and get some sleep in somewhere."

_"As if that's gonna happen,"_ Tony thought, glancing up at the director then back down at the open file in front of him.

They heard the elevator stop and open, but didn't expect what happened next... Out of the corner of his eye, Gibbs saw Leon backing up. He turned his head to see what was going on. Vance dropped his briefcase to the floor as he held his hands up, not looking away from the elevator.

Slowly, Gibbs stood, and so did Dinozzo as he had looked up upon hearing the case drop. Several men, all dressed in black from head to toe, and armed with silencer-equipped handguns aimed at Vance, came quickly strolling out of the elevator, and just as the two agents went for their weapons in their desks, more of the intruders poured in from the stairwell door to surround them. They were outnumbered and outgunned.

McGee and Ziva quickly stood and put up their hands in unison with the others as they shared surprised glances with one another. Another man entered the room. He didn't look like the rest of them, but he caught the teams' attention.

He was dressed in, what seemed to be, a very expensive gray suit that had 'mobster' written all over it. Gibbs could see the man's weapon on his side, unneeded at the moment for obvious reasons. The man only glanced over Vance for a moment then turned to the agents in the bullpen.

"I'm looking for Agent Anthony Dinozzo," he said. Tony swallowed and Gibbs tried not to be too obvious when he turned to his agent in question.

**_Tony silently conveyed his confusion to his superior; panic evident as to how to respond...**_

* * *

(Okay, the next portion will be up soon. I just wanted this opener to stand alone. BTW, if someone has found a less conspicuous way to portray the 'thwoop-shots', please do not hesitate to send me pointers haha )


	2. Chapter 2

"That'd be me," Gibbs said and turned back to face the man.

"Boss..." Tony started to protect, but Gibbs glared at him. Tony bit down on the side of his tongue. He had no idea what the hell this was about, but he'd be damned if he let Gibbs take the heat.

The man walked up to his desk, "You're not Dinozzo," he said. "There's a few reasons I can tell that, your name plate," he fingered the plastic strip, "Being one...and you bear no resemblance to his father."

"What's this have to do with my father?" Tony spoke up. The man slowly turned around and lowered his glasses to give him a once-over.

"Now this, I believe," he said. After a moment he raised his hand in the air, signaling his well-trained men forward.

Some of them made their way to the other agents, searching and disarming them, pulling them to the middle of the bullpen and forcing them down on their knees with their hands on their heads. Another did the same to Vance, then searched and disarmed Tony.

"How did you get in here?" Vance spoke up. The intruder standing behind him butted the barrel of his gun into the back of his neck and Vance dropped unconscious to the floor.

"That's enough!" their leader groaned in frustration at his men. "But to answer his question, I have...friends in low places," he explained with a grin.

"You haven't answered _my_ question," Tony said.

"Your father...yes," he walked closer to Dinozzo. "He's the reason I'm here. He was an excellent con man."

"What do you mean, 'was'?" he asked.

"Your father stole from me in Reno," he explained, and Tony clenched jaw and pursed his lips in frustration of his father's actions. "When I found him, he said the money was gone. He had spent it all. To prove it, he gave me access to his accounts. It wasn't there. He refused to tell me where the money was." Tony's friends all seemed to know where this was going. "So, I killed him."

"You what...?" Tony staggered and his arms dropped to the desk to catch himself. The intruders raised their guns toward him, and again, their leader raised his hand for them to back down.

"You'll have to excuse my men. They are...a little testy from the trip here."

"You killed my father?" his voice cracked. Tony lowered himself into his chair, his eyes meeting each member of his team briefly, before looking down at his desktop.

Ziva looked up at her boss next to her, then to McGee, both reflecting sympathy for Tony's dismay.

"Seems like a pretty expensive operation here," Tony said. "Exactly how much did he take you for?"

"I would assume you knew," he replied.

"I've never had anything to do with my father's business," he spat.

"Then you never purchased him a ticket to Monte Carlo? Which eventually led him to me?" Tony's eyes closed and he took a frustrated breath.

"I know nothing about the money..." he said finally. The man stormed up and leaned into the desk to put his face in Tony's.

"I was told the money is in _your _account!" he yelled. Tony backed slightly away from the intrusion.

"My joined account was closed before he went to Monte Carlo. And I thought he didn't tell you where it was?"

"He didn't. Like I said before...friends in low places. Now, access the account," he pointed to the computer. Tony hesitated for a moment.

"I'll log in, but like I said...the account was closed," he began typing in the url. "So...what should I call you?" he said, making small talk as he worked.

"My associates call me Hastings," he leaned back down on the desk, "But you can call me 'Daddy', since you don't have one anymore," he grinned. Tony's blood boiled over as he looked at the creep's eyes. He lunged forward on the desk and grabbed his shirt, punching him hard in the face before three of his men pulled Tony off of him and threw him to the floor. They whaled on him, hitting him in the face and kicking his chest.

"Stop!" Ziva yelled, and she thought fast, trip-kicking the man behind her and jumping at Tony's attackers. One of the men pointed their gun at Ziva, and Gibbs reached out and pushed his arm before the round went off, hitting the big screen. McGee took advantage of the chaos and crawled over to his desk to retrieve the small video comm system, being sure to mute any incoming feed, and he paged the forensics lab, where he knew Abby still was. He quickly placed it under the desk pointing toward them and crawled back over into the mayhem.

"That's enough!" Hastings shouted, and the men had regained control. "Bring her here," he told them. Two of them took her arms and dragged her toward him. "Tie her down....And pick him up," he motioned at Tony.

Dinozzo laid, defeated, on the floor before they picked him up and dragged him back to his desk. "Now, do as I asked," Hastings told him, "Or she dies," he said, pulling a knife from his suit coat and holding it up to Ziva's neck.

Tony panicked inwardly as he looked at the, now restrained, agent. Her hands were bound onto the back of the chair and her legs were tied tightly together. She showed no fear at the man's threats, but Dinozzo could tell that his boss and McGee felt the same panic as he did when he looked at them.

He resumed opening up a page to the presumably closed account and froze when it opened and showed that, not only had the account been reopened, but there was, indeed, a large some of money in it.

He counted the zeroes once...twice...he was frozen. "Well?" Hastings asked, "Is it there?" Tony looked over at his team.

"Yeah," he said, barely believing himself.

"Is it _all_ there...all three million?" Hastings asked. Gibbs, McGee and Ziva all looked at him in surprise. He couldn't help but to feel as though they thought he'd had something to do with this.

"It's all there..." he said. "Three million dollars..."

Okay...thought I'd get a little more in before bed. I'll have more up tomorrow for sure :)


	3. Chapter 3

_ **Tony's face was painted with a look of anger and fear as the powerful man before him smiled deviously...**_

*

* * *

Abigail Sciuto sat in front of her computer, her arm propping her sleeping head up, when she was suddenly woken from a strange noise next to her. She glanced up at her monitor at first, but quickly realized where the sound was coming from.

The video comm screen was lit up. It took her a moment to understand what she was looking at. The angle was awkward; the scenario even stranger. She saw McGee and Gibbs kneeling on the floor, but there were sets of legs scattered about around them. It wasn't until she heard Hastings' voice, that she put together what was happening.

_"Transfer the money to this account," _the strange voice said. She couldn't see who he was talking to. _"We're running out of time."_

_ "Running out of time for what?"_ Abby heard Tony ask.

_"Until someone discovers the dead guard at the gate, and makes it more complicated to make an exit," _he answered.

_"What happens after Tony transfers the money?" McGee cautiously asked._

_ "You live," he said. "We lock you up in one of your interrogation rooms. And we'll be long gone before anyone comes in to find you. No one gets hurt."_

_ "And if I don't?" Tony's voice sounded angry..._

Abby sat perfectly still with her cell phone in her hand. She had dialed 911, but hadn't hit send. If they found the guard...there was no way to tell what would happen next...

* * *

At Tony's question, Hastings walked out of the bullpen towards the window. "It's offensive for you to assume I wouldn't plan for every possibility, Mr. Dinozzo," he said.

_"Boss," McGee whispered as quietly as possible to get Gibbs' attention. Gibbs looked at him, making as little motion as possible. Tim dipped his head ever so slightly toward the floor under the desk. Gibbs looked out the corner of his eye and saw red light on the video comm. _

_ "Lab?" Gibbs asked him quietly. McGee nodded. Gibbs thought for a moment. _

"One of my men is trained to be able to perform the task if you should refuse," Hastings told him and turned in place to look at him again. "But if I were you, I would do as I was told."

"Somehow, I doubt that," Tony retorted. Hastings smirked at his boldness. He walked toward Ziva.

"Maybe," he began, "But if I had something as lovely as this," he grabbed the back of Ziva's hair and tugged, causing her to grunt, "I wouldn't risk the loss of her precious features," he ran the knife softly and deliberately across her face, not cutting her, but enough to make her colleagues tense.

"You back off of her," Gibbs stood up. Hastings men looked at their leader for permission to strike him.

"You have nothing to be concerned about if your friend here would do as he was told."

"He'll do it..."Gibbs told him, glancing at Tony then back to Hastings, "As soon as you put your knife away."

"_I_ make the demands, here," he yelled and stormed up to him, "Not you!" Gibbs didn't expect the man to slash him, in a fit of rage, across the chest...

* * *

Abby flinched in horror as she watched Gibbs fall the the floor, "Gibbs!" she cried out, tears stinging her eyes. But then she saw him look at the video comm at her...and he signed something to her. They had always practiced their sign language in playful ways over the years. He signed one word to her...

_"Hide"..._

* * *

"Hey!" McGee shouted as Gibbs fell. Tim didn't think. He just lunged at Hastings, knocking him down and pulling his fist back to punch him. But Hastings guard shot and hit McGee in the back of his shoulder.

"No!" Tony said as he tackled the man who shot McGee.

"McGee!" Ziva shouted as Tim fell over off of Hastings. Then twisted in her bindings, swinging her legs to knock down one of the men aiming their gun at Tony. "Tony, look out!"

"That-is-enough!" Hastings shouted. The room stilled immediately. He stood up, kicking McGee out of his path and grabbing his fallen man to stand again. He walked over to Tony and pulled him up by his shirt. "I told you that your father was dead so that excessive force wouldn't be necessary," he spat at him. "But, as with everything else, I have a back-up tactic." He pulled out a cell phone from inside of his jacket and pressed a button on his speed-dial. He put the phone to his ear. After one ring, the other line picked up. "Put him on the phone," he said, and moved the phone back down into his line of sight, pressing the speaker phone. He held the phone in front of Tony.

_"Tony?"_

"Dad..." Tony recognized his father's voice. He sounded afraid.

_"Tony, I'm so sorry...I-" _Hastings cut the line off.

"My men are holding your father. He is my insurance policy." Tony's anger was evident in his face as the man continued. "Transfer the money now...and I won't give my men the signal to kill him."

*

_ **The man smiled deviously at Tony's mixed expression of anger and fear...**_

* * *

More on its way very very soon! Let me know what you think ;)


	4. Chapter 4

Tony typed away at the computer, inputting the account information Hastings had given him for the transfer. "The bad guys always have a Swiss bank account," Tony mumbled. He glanced briefly over at his colleagues who were now lined up to sit against the wall under the window. McGee's face was sheen with sweat as he held his hand pressed to the bullet's exit wound on the front of his shoulder. Gibbs was sitting next to him, "You holding up?" he asked his agent quietly.

"Yeah, Boss," he replied. "You?"

"Just a scratch," his boss pulled his suit coat closed to hide the bleeding gash. He turned to look at Ziva.

"I am fine," she quietly assured him. Vance was still out cold laying in front of Ziva's desk.

"It's done," Tony said and looked up at Hastings. Hastings turned to one of his men.

"Make sure he's telling me the truth," he said. The man walked over to the desk. Tony stood and backed away. The man read over the screen, then turned to his leader and nodded.

Hastings looked at Tony, "Thank you. Now we can get out of your hair." He motioned to his men and they moved into position, one grabbing Tony's arm, the others grabbing his friends, pulling them to their feet.

That's when the door to the stairwell opened and another one of his men walked through, struggling to hold the forensic girl whom he'd caught and bound her hands behind her back.

"Found her hiding in the morgue," the man told his boss.

"Abby..." Gibbs' face turned white. She looked at him, fear written clearly on her face.

Gibbs looked at Hastings, whose face was noticeably twisted in anger. "Now why didn't you tell me someone else was here?" he said to none of them in particular. He looked down for a moment. Then he pulled his phone from his suit coat again. "I'm sorry I have to do this," he said.

Tony looked over at his friends, glancing briefly between each of them, then back to Hastings. "Have to do what?" he asked as the man pressed the dial button then the speaker. "Have to do what?!" he asked again, louder. The ringing sounded over the speaker and someone picked up on the other end, but said nothing.

"Kill him," Hastings said, simply. Two shots were heard, then a thump as a body fell to the floor. Tony's knees gave out, but the man holding him kept him standing.

"You son of a bitch!" Gibbs yelled as the man ended the call and tucked his phone away.

McGee's mouth hung open in astonishment at what had just happened. He looked back and forth between Tony and the man who'd just killed his father.

A tear crept down Ziva's cheek as she saw this anguish in Tony's eyes.

Gibbs' jaw clenched in anger as Hastings turned toward him, "I have no more time to deal with you," he told him. Then he looked at his men and nodded, signaling them to bring them to the interrogation room.

* * *

"You can't just leave us here until morning," Ziva said as they shoved them into the room, "McGee will bleed to death."

"Maybe you'll get lucky and the janitor will come in early," Hastings toyed with her. One of his men came up to him and said something in his ear. Hastings became visibly frustrated. "Change of plans," he said. "My men seem to believe your employee may have called for help before we found her."

"No!" Abby said to him, then turned to Gibbs, "No, I didn't! I swear!" she looked back at Hastings.

"Well, in any case, we'll need to take out some insurance," he replied and turned to his men. "Take the women," he said.

"You can't do that!" Gibbs said, "That wasn't part of the deal!" he watched, helpless as they pried Abby and Ziva from them.

"Don't worry, Agent Gibbs," Hastings told him. "Once we are safe and sound, I'll be sure to let you know where to pick them up." He smiled as the door shut and locked.

Gibbs through himself, shoulder first against the door in attempt to open it. Stopping when the gash in his chest stung. Then he looked over at Dinozzo, who stood silent, still facing the wall in the position they'd shoved him in the room.

Tony was overcome by a wave of nausea and dropped to his hands and knees, vomiting on the floor in front of him.

"Tony..." Gibbs went to kneel beside him. Worried about his agent who'd just lost his father in such a sickening way, and he put a hand on his back. "I'm sorry about your dad," he told him. Tony closed his eyes for a moment.

"Me too," he said quietly. Then something caught his eye and he looked beside him. On the underside of the table, something had been duct taped. He crawled over and reached up to pull it off.

Flipping it over in his hand, he realized it was a cell phone...Abby's cell. Gibbs smirked for a just a moment. "Good work, Abs," he said to his missing girl.

* * *

Abby and Ziva were cramped together side by side in the trunk of Hastings car, Ziva's feet beside Abby's head and vice versa. They felt the car hit a bump in the road. Ziva growled.

"Every time they hit a bump, your spiky belt digs into my hip," she told Abby.

"How do you think I feel?" Abby replied.

"I do not understand how you can possibly be comfortable in those things." They were silent for a few moments.

"Did you see Tony's face?" Abby asked, empathy evident in her voice. Ziva breathed.

"Yes..."

"I can't believe he did that...it's my fault," her voice cracked.

"It wasn't your fault, Abby," Ziva told her. "Hastings was going to kill Tony's father anyway. He was just looking for a reason not to blame himself."

"How could you know that?" Abby questioned her.

"You forget, I used to work for people like that," Ziva said.

"Oh yeah..."

"So tell me, Abby...why aren't you freaking out right now?"

"You're not freaking out," Abby pointed out.

"I am different."

"You're not so different, Ziva," she said. "I know you're freaking out inside." Ziva didn't respond at first.

"I am...worried about Tony," she said, "And McGee. He's going to die if they don't get out of there soon."

"I left them a phone," she told her.

"What?"

"I taped a phone under the table in interrogation. I heard Hastings say that's where he'd put you all when he was finished."

"That was very smart, Abby," Ziva said. Then she smiled.

"Now we only have to worry about us." Abby swallowed. Ziva reached down to grab Abby's hand.

"We are going to be okay. They'll find us..."

* * *

Federal Agent Tobias Fornell had been reading when his cell phone rang on his nightstand. He looked at the clock. It was a little after one in the morning. He looked at the caller I.D. But didn't recognize the number.

"This is Agent Fornell," he said when he answered the call.

_"Tobias..."_

"Gibbs," he recognized the voice, "Where you callin' me from?"

_ "No time to explain. I need you to get over to NCIS."_

"It's after one, Jethro."

_"We're locked in the interrogation room."_

"What?" he sat up.

_"I need your help, Tobias. I need you to come down here. And I need you to send an ambulance. One of my agents was shot."_

"What the hell happened, Gibbs?" he asked as he put on his shoes.

_"Some guy named Hastings and about twenty of his goons dropped in from Vegas to pay us a visit. Killed the guard at the gate...who knows how many others. Shot McGee and took Ziva and Abby hostage. They left here maybe five minutes ago."_

"Roger Hastings?" he asked as he got into his car.

_"I didn't catch his first name, Fornell," he said, hearing the engine start in the background._

"If it's him...we better pray we find your agents soon," he said, speeding off.

* * *

Gibbs had taken his polo off and given it to Tim to help stop the bleeding. Tony was sitting next to him. McGee turned to him.

"Hey, Tony, you think you could help me get this coat off?" he asked.

"Sure thing, Probie," he shifted to his knee and started to tug off the sleeve of Tim's free arm.

"Gah!" Tim grunted as the sudden movement of his arm caused the pain from the bullet wound to flare. Tony froze. "Easy, man!"

"Sorry, Probie," he resumed removing the sleeve, more cautiously. "Whoa..." Tony said as he exposed the entrance wound in the back of his shoulder. Blood began pouring freely. He instinctively pressed his hand over it in attempt to stop it. Tim grunted at the pain from the sudden pressure. "Boss, a little help?"

Gibbs knelt down in front of McGee, noticing his hand was barely holding onto the rolled up polo anymore. He pulled his hand away and replaced it with his own, applying more pressure to the wound, then pulled the coat off his other arm

"You hangin' in there, McGee?" he asked him. "You're lookin' a little pale."

"Kinda light-headed, Boss," he said, a bit short of breath. "A little tired."

"Help is on the way. You can sleep when you get to the hospital," he said, looking at the amount of blood soaking the front of his agent's shirt and pooling onto his pants. Tim coughed.

"I don't know if I can wait that long, Boss," he told him, his eyes beginning to flutter.

"Keep your eyes open, McGee," Tony told him.

"I'm trying," he tried to hold his head up and it ended up falling back onto the wall.

"C'mon, Tim," Gibbs slapped him lightly on his cheek, then heard voices coming from the other side of the door and stood.

The door opened, the first person he saw was Fornell.

"In here," he said, directing the EMTs.

"You're gonna be okay, Probie," Tony said. "Helps here."


	5. Chapter 5

"Roger Hastings," Fornell pulled up a photo on the computer in Abby's lab. "Former owner of five casinos in Reno. He was investigated for tax fraud last year; sold all of his casinos and dropped off the radar."

"I knew there was a reason I called you, Tobias," Gibbs smirked. "That's our guy," he said looking at the photo, his eyes squinting into a glare.

"You called me because you were locked in interrogation and happened to remember my number," Fornell replied. Gibbs cocked his head, the corner of his mouth turning up.

"If he dropped off the radar, how do we figure out where he is now?" Tony asked.

"We could start by pulling up the surveillance videos from our base cams,"Gibbs said.

"Right, Boss. Figure out what they're driving. I'm on it," he said as Tobias moved out of the chair and Tony sat down to type.

"What're you doin', Dinozzo?" Gibbs asked.

"McGee showed me how to access the base cam's hard drive. Saves a trip to security." Gibbs gave a satisfied expression and nodded.

"Can you tell me anything else about this guy?" Gibbs asked Tobias. "Starting with your comment on the phone earlier..."

"All I can tell you is, what this guy can't pay to have done, he makes up for in senseless, devious acts of violence."

"So we've witnessed," Gibbs said, glancing over at Tony. His agent seemed to be busying himself with finding the video, but met Gibb's eyes for a moment, shifting his sight on the photo of the man on the screen, then back to the monitor in front of him. "Hastings had Tony's father killed," he told him quietly.

"When?" Fornell asked, a look of surprise on his face.

"Not long before I called you. He put it on speakerphone."

"That's his style, alright," Tobias said. "Mess with Hastings, he messes back, and crosses way over the line, making sure you suffer." He turned his head to look at Tony. "I'm sorry about your father, Dinozzo," he said. Then he thought for a moment. "So what the hell did you do to piss him off?" Tony looked up from his work.

"My father pissed him off," he told him. "Conned him out of three mill. When he found out he'd been conned and my father wasn't going to give it back, he came after me."

"Someone told him it was in Tony's joined account with his father," Gibbs explained, then turned to his agent, "You sure you had nothing to do with that?" Tony seemed visibly hurt by the accusation.

"How can you even ask me that?" he said to his boss.

"I've seen people do some crazy things I wouldn't have expected from them, in my time."

"Well I'm not one of those people," Tony said, the offense making his eyes sting.

Gibbs knew his accusation caused Dinozzo pain. He nodded at him and Tony quickly blinked back the tears that threatened to betray him, shook his head to in attempt to hide that fact, and pressed a button on the keyboard.

"The surveillance video," he said, "On-screen, Boss." The two older agents turned to face the larger screen. It was split four ways revealing different recorded angles. "This is about quarter till midnight."

"Top left, first car takes out the gate guard," Gibbs pointed out.

"Looks like an 08 Charger," Tony added.

"Followed by two vans. The goon-mobiles. Can you get a close up of the Charger's plates?"

"Workin' on it, Boss," he said, singling out the first capture and zooming in on the plate. He typed more into the keyboard and the blurred image began to clear up. "I think I'm getting pretty good at this," Tony boasted.

Gibbs smirked, and read the license plate on the screen. "We need to put an APB out on those plates," Tobias said.

"No," Gibbs said. Fornell looked at him in question. "I can't risk the possibility that he goes postal on whatever sorry trooper ends up pulling him over. If he gets caught before he releases Ziva and Abby, he'll kill them."

"How the hell else are we supposed to find him?"

"I'm thinkin' there's more to him wanting to be outta here so fast," Gibbs said.

"You mean, like he needed to catch a flight?" Tony suggested.

"That'd mean they flew in, and those vehicles are rentals," Gibbs said.

"Run the plates and you'll find out where the rentals came from," Tobias said.

"Wherever that rental place is, is most likely where they landed on their flight in," Gibbs said.

"It's cheaper to get round trip tickets," Tony said, "They could be flying out of the same airport," he typed quickly on the computer as he talked. "We can narrow it down...twenty or more passengers on a single red-eye flight..." he stopped typing. "Well that was easier that I expected." Gibbs cocked his head waiting for him to continue. "The Charger was rented from Enterprise at BWI."

"That car have a GPS unit in it?"

"If it does, it's been deactivated."

"What about his phone?"

"Uh...he'd have to call us to get that information, Boss."

"He made two calls using his cell from this building."

"I don't...know if..." Tony got the glare from Gibbs. "Boss, there are only so many levels of McGeek I've gotten through. This one...I have no idea." Gibbs was silent for a moment.

"Looks like we're going to Baltimore," he finally said.

"I'll drive," they all turned at the sound of Vance's voice at the door.

"I thought you were at the hospital," Gibbs said.

"I was. I'm fine, aside from a headache," he said as he walked further into the lab. "Seems like I got a decent nap. I'll drive, and you can fill me in." It wasn't a suggestion.

Fornell shared a glance with Gibbs before following Vance out. Gibbs stopped to stand next to where Tony still sat. "I knew you had nothing to do with it," he assured his agent. "But it had to be asked." Tony looked down at the keyboard. "Dinozzo," Gibbs said and Tony looked up at him, "Good work," he motioned to the screen.

Another moment passed, seeming like he wanted to say something else, but then he walked toward to door. Tony got up and followed him.

* * *

_He ran toward the black Charger, gun aimed as he searched the front and back seat to find it empty. Then he went to the trunk, motioning for Tony to pop it open from the button on the front panel. With a click, the lock was open and he pulled it open..._

_ Abby and Ziva lay there, lifeless...bullet holes in each of their foreheads..._

_ "Abs... Ziver..." he reached down, but a movement on his left caught his eye and he turned._

_ "Boss..." Hastings was holding a gun to Tony's head._

_ "I'm sorry I have to do this," Hastings said, and pulled the trigger._

_ "No!" Gibbs watched in horror as his agent slowly dropped to the ground...his cell phone began ringing..._

-***

"Boss..." Gibbs' eyes shot open and he jumped. When he looked around, he realized he was still in the car on the way to Baltimore. It was a dream. He looked at Dinozzo. "Bad dream?" His phone rang... he picked it up and looked at the caller ID. It was Bethesda.

"Yeah, Gibbs," he answered.

_"Boss, I ran Hastings' number through the system and I've got a GPS location."_

"McGee?" Gibbs was surprised. "How is it even possible you're awake right now?"

_"I had Ducky bring me my laptop. I searched the towers specific to the base and picked up the two calls Hastings made while he was in the building. I got his number."_

"What I'm asking you, is how are you already out of the O.R?" There were a few moments of silence. "McGee?!"

_ "Uh...Boss, I uh...haven't gone into surgery yet."_

"How are you talkin' to me right now?"

_"I needed blood. I got it. And I'm feeling better. So I told them to hold off until I can help you find Abby and Ziva." Another long silence. "Uh...Boss?"_

"What did you find?"

_"His phone is turned off right now, but his last two calls were placed- one of them, twenty five miles west of Baltimore International The other was less then a mile from there going back east. He must be planning to fly out of Baltimore."_

"We know about BWI, but what the hell is twenty five miles west of it?"

_"Map shows a uh...a funeral home. Call lasted under fifteen seconds. There's nothing a mile east. Just road. Couldn't get a trace on who he was calling."_

"Good work, McGee...now put Ducky on the phone, please."

_ "Hello, Jethro," Ducky said when he took the phone. "Timothy filled me in on everything that's happened. Is there anything I can do to help?"_

_ "_Yeah. Tell McGee to let the doctors fix him up. He's no good to me without an arm."

_"I've been telling him as much."_

"Well let him show you how to read the GPS readout. You can call me if anything shows up."

* * *

"We've stopped," Ziva tells her trunk mate.

"What happens now?" Abby shifted uncomfortably.

"Well, he could end up leaving us here. This car is most likely a rental," she explained. "Perfect opportunity to hop on a plane, and call Gibbs...tell us where we are..." her thoughts were interrupted when the trunk opened. The dark sky was freckled with stars and a bright moon which cast a bit of haze silhouette on the men who hovered over them.

One of the men reached down and pulled Ziva out. Both men turned toward the voice of Hastings. Abby couldn't make out what he was saying.

"Where are you taking her?" Abby shouted. The men looked down at her and one put a hand on the trunk to close it. "What are you gonna do to her? Wait!" the trunk closed after brief eye contact between she and Ziva....

It seemed like hours before the trunk opened again. "Where is she?" Abby asked as she picked her head up to get a better view of where they were. Ziva was no where in sight. "Where's Ziva? What did you do?" she got louder. The man bent over and placed duct tape over her mouth.

"You need to be quiet now," he said. "Hastings' gets angry when you attract attention." Abby slunk down in the trunk as he shut the door. Fresh tears streamed down from the outer corners of her eyes, to the lobes of her ears. She breathed for a moment and thought about what she'd seen when she scanned the area. They were in the parking lot for some kind of funeral home. There was a hearse parked not far from them.

When the car engine started, Abby panicked. They were leaving...they were leaving without Ziva...and now she was alone...

* * *

Ziva had been knocked unconscious when she struggled to get away from the men who were dragging her toward the building, but now she was waking. It was dark. She realized her hands were no longer bound and either were her feet.

She wondered for a moment if she was back in the trunk, but quickly realized that this was a lot less uncomfortable. Her hands reached beside her in search for Abby, but met with a satiny material. The same was true on her other side, but she felt something at her side.

Her fingers felt the cold, metallic object and lifted it, examining it with both of her hands now. It was no bigger than the length of her hand or the width of one of her fingers, and she felt a switch. Quickly realizing it was a flashlight, she turned it on.

It only took a moment for her to realize where she was. "How original," she mumbled. She was in a coffin.

_"Abby sleeps in one of these things every night," _she thought. _"There's no reason to be afraid."_

She put the back end of the flashlight between her teeth and pressed her hands out in front of her in attempt to push the top open. She pushed with all her strength but it wouldn't budge. _"Could they have buried me?" _her heart thumped in her chest.

Then she felt something on her belly and pointed the flashlight there. A phone...she put the flashlight down on her stomach and picked up the phone, quickly dialing Abby's number and hitting send. She held the phone to her ear, but it just toned out. She looked at the screen.

_Incoming calls only_, it read. Then it rang. She quickly answered. "Hello?"

_"Miss David," _she heard Hastings say on the other line. _"I'm glad you're awake. I need you to give me a number that I can reach your boss on."_

"I thought you had this all planned out," Ziva retorted.

_"Oh, I do," _he said creepily into the phone. _"But my idiot goons pocketed your phones when they confiscated them..."_

_~***_

Hastings stood outside of his car with his phone to his ear. "Thank you, Miss David," he said. "I really do hope he can find you before your air runs out," he said sincerely. "It would be a shame for such a pretty girl to go to waste." He ended the call and tucked it into his suit coat. "That will do," he looked up at his men as they dumped the body of the man who'd pocketed the phones. "Let's get back on schedule, shall we?" They piled into the car and drove off."

* * *

"Yeah, Gibbs," Gibbs answered Abby's cell.

_"Jethro,"_ Ducky sounded from the other end. _"Hastings made another call just now. Looks to be about five miles south of the BWI in downtown Baltimore."_ Gibbs looked out the window for exit signs.

"How's McGee?" he asked.

_"In surgery. They just took him in a short while ago. I'll be sure to let you know as soon as the surgeon comes out." _

"Thanks, Duck," he said and ended the call, "Get off here," Gibbs said to Vance as he saw the downtown exit.

* * *

"It's one of Hastings men," Tony said as he moved debris away from the body they found.

"Call the local PD and let them know they have a homicide victim," Vance directed Tony.

"Why would he kill one of his own men?" Gibbs thought out loud.

"I might have an answer to that," Tony said and they both looked over. Tony held up their cell phones.

"Search his pockets," Gibbs said. "See if there's any indication where they might've dropped Abby and Ziva." Then something caught his eye in the street, glowing from the tail lights of their car. He bent down to pick it up, immediately recognizing the goth collar necklace, and noticed a few meters away, pieces of broken tail light. "They're still in the car," Gibbs stood and held up the jewelry. Tony shined his flashlight toward Gibbs' discovery.

"Body's still warm," Tony said. "Means they were here not too long ago."

* * *

Ziva looked at the window on he cell phone for the hundredth time. It was 2:30. She'd been in there for almost an hour. She knew she shouldn't panic...that it'd make the air run out faster. But she was beginning to worry. She closed her eyes, imagining herself somewhere else. Somewhere she would feel safe...

* * *

Ducky pressed redial on the phone as he sat next to Tim's hospital bed.

_"Got any news, Ducky?"_ Gibbs answered.

"Timothy is doing well. He woke up a few minutes ago and demanded his computer." Gibbs smirked. "He's not completely coherent, but he says he'd thought about something while he was sleeping...here," he handed to phone to McGee.

"Boss, the bank accounts," he said, sleepily. "I heard Tony say he was transferring the money into a Swiss account."

_"And?"_

"And it got me thinking...he's obviously not flying to Switzerland to make a withdrawal."

_"He would've rerouted it," _Gibbs concluded.

"Yeah, Boss. I accessed Tony's computer remotely and pulled up the data from the accounts."

_"You hacked Dinozzo's computer from Bethesda?" _Gibbs replied. Tony's face was priceless when he glanced over at him.

_"He can do that?"_ Tim heard him say in the background.

"Anyway, the money was rerouted about twenty minutes ago to a bank in downtown Baltimore called Greentree Savings and Loan. My guess is that he's going there."

_"Banks aren't open this early, McGee. And they sure as hell wouldn't have the 3 million for him to withdrawal."_

"That's true, but I don't think he needs all 3 million yet. He's gonna take enough out to pay his hired guns so they can make their own way home. I checked the flight bookings, and there isn't a flight out to Reno until seven. I checked the passenger list, and there's one that stands out; Shain Stroggers."

_"Who the hell is Shain Stroggers?"_

"It's an alias, Boss. If you rearrange the letters in Roger Hastings..."

_"Like your pen name on your book?" _There was a silence. _"I didn't think anybody really did __that."_

Tim's eyes glared as they darted around the room trying to figure out if he should be offended.

_"You still there, Gemcity?" _This was rewarded with a huge grin from Tony.

"I'm still here, Boss..."

_"Good work."_

* * *

Abby didn't fight the men as they tied her hands together and to the bedpost in a shady looking motel room. She didn't make a single sound as her captors talked to each other, occasionally glancing over at her defenseless form laying on the left side of the bed. They talked and they smiled creepily in her direction, before one of the turned and started walking towards her, unbuckling his belt...

Her eyes grew wide in horror and she shook her head...would've cried out if the duct tape weren't muting her. But then Hastings walked in.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" he asked his man.

"Nothing, Sir. Just readjusting my belt, Sir," he buckled and stepped back away from Abby.

"We don't have time for these games, gentlemen. The bank opens in ten minutes. If you want to get paid, I suggest you get in the car." Hastings turned and walked out. The man grinned at her.

"Maybe next time," he said before switching the light off and closing the door as they left.

Abby was bathed in darkness. She moved to stand up in attempt to pull the bindings off of the bedpost, but the rope was secure, and she slipped off of the bed, her arms hanging high. She collapsed onto the side of the nightstand, feeling defeated and exhausted.

_"Please hurry, Gibbs," _she prayed in her mind...


	6. Chapter 6

**_Gibbs reluctantly handed his gun over to Hastings as he forced them into the van...**_

Gibbs, Vance, Dinozzo and Fornell sat low in the car parked across the street from the Greentree Saving and Loan parking lot, when Abby's cell rang. Gibbs looked at the caller ID and saw that the number was unknown. He glanced at Tony before answering.

"Yeah...Gibbs."

_"Agent Gibbs," _Hastings' voice sounded over the phone. Gibbs looked back at Tony. _"I take it by now you've been freed from your interrogation room. I'll honor my end of the deal by telling you the locations of your employees."_

"There's more than one?"

_"I never said they'd be dropped at the same place."_

"Where are they?" Gibbs said, annoyed and frustrated, motioning to Tony for a pen and paper.

_"The goth looking girl is in the Red Roof Inn in Ferndale, Maryland. She's in room 208." _Gibbs scribbled down the information. _"The Israeli beauty is in an abandoned funeral home not far from Baltimore...I don't recall the name of the place."_

"I think I might know where that is," Gibbs said.

_" I did leave her a phone though. I'll send you the number. I should mention that both of them are in grave danger," _Gibbs' head shot up in surprise at the man's words._ "Some of my men were very eager to spent a little more time with your forensic scientist. And once I've paid them and sent them on their way, I have no more control over their actions." _Gibbs' face went white. _"You should probably hurry, Agent Gibbs. It was a pleasure doing business with you." _The call ended.

"We need another car," Gibbs said.

"What's the plan, Boss?"

"Ziva's running out of air. She's at a funeral home. That could mean she's been buried alive." The phone dinged, accepting a text. "He said he left her a phone. This is the number." Tony typed it into his phone, pressed send and turned on the speakerphone. It rang three times before the other line picked up. They could only here labored breathing.

"Ziva?" Gibbs called.

_"Gibbs?" she answered, groggily. "Gibbs, I...," she was crying now, panicking, "I can't breathe..." _Tony's face paled.

"We're coming for you, Ziva," he told her. The line disconnected. "Ziva, you still there?" There was no answer. Her turned to Tony, "Call Bethesda, get a hold of McGee and ask him where it is. They retrieved all call Hastings made while they were there."

"What about Abby?"

"She's in a motel in Ferndale. Hastings said his men had their eye on her and she could be in danger," he turned to Vance. "I need you two to stay here. Hastings thinks he has time before we get here. He's not gonna leave without the money," he opened his door and walked around to the driver side as Tony got out. "I need the car, Director."

"Where am I gonna find a car, Boss?" Tony asked. Gibbs looked around.

"There's a cab parked over there," he motioned a few cars down as Vance and Fornell got out of the car.

"You sure the two of you going without back up is a good idea?" Vance asked.

"No," Gibbs said, getting in the car, "But we don't have much of a choice."

Tony ran up to the cab and pulled out his badge, knocking on the window to wake up the cabbie. The scruffy man rolled down the window.

"I need to commandeer your vehicle," Tony said.

"Are you kiddin' me?" he spat. Tony pulled out his gun.

"No, sir, I'm not."

* * *

Gibbs pulled up to the Red Roof Inn, cautiously searching for the black vehicles. He parked and got out of the car, quickly sprinting down the walk in search for 208. Three doors down, he found it. The door was locked. He kicked it twice before it swung open. Flicking on the light he called out, "Abby?" and then he saw her bound arms on the bed post, the rest of her hidden behind the bed. He crossed the room toward her and knelt down as she looked up at him.

"Gibbs..." her face was streaked with mascara-bled tears.

"Abby, are you okay?" he pulled out his knife and freed her arms. She immediately through the around him. "Abs...did they...did they hurt you?"

"No, Gibbs," she sniffled. "You saved me." He held her as he stood her up. "Did you find Ziva?" she asked as she pulled away.

"Tony's on his way to her."

"They took her to a funeral home. I don't know what they did to her..." she panicked.

"How long were they parked there?" he asked.

"It seemed like forever. But it probably wasn't more than ten minutes."

* * *

Tony frantically ran around the abandoned funeral home outside, looking for turned dirt...any sign of digging, when his phone rang. "Boss, I haven't found her..." he answered.

"I don't think they buried her," Gibbs replied. "They didn't have time. You need to go inside the building." Tony shut the phone as he ran into the broken front door. There were caskets lined up around the room. After a short moment of panic, her opened his phone, pressing redial. He stood still, listening.

After a moment, he could hear the faint ringing. He followed the noise and it led him to the center of the room, to a shiny gray casket. He dropped the phone and he gripped the lid and tried to open it, to no avail. Then he saw the pressure locks and frantically began to unscrew them. He removed the first one and it fell clanging to the floor and moved to the second.

"Ziva!" he called out as the phone continued to ring. The second one fell to the floor and there was an audible hiss and he pried open the lid. "Ziva!" he reached down to her lifeless form. He pulled her out of the casket and laid her down on the floor, checking for a pulse. "Ziva...no..." he positioned himself at her side and bent down, pinching her nose and tilting her head back before breathing into her mouth. His hands balled up on her chest and began CPR. "C'mon, Zee, don't do this to me," he said and breathed for her again.

His arms ached as he continued his efforts. Tears stung his eyes. "Please, Ziva," his voice cracked. And then he saw her head jerk and her eyes open wide as she lurched up off the floor gasping in the air.

She looked up at him, his eyes red and glossy with relief from his fear. Then her own emotion began to escape her, and she reached to hug him as she broke down in his arms.

* * *

As both cars arrived on the street towards the bank, they noticed one of the black vans parked where they'd left Vance and Fornell. "You stay here, Abs," Gibbs said as he opened his door, pressed the power lock as he got out, then shut her in. Abby shrank down in the seat as she watched Gibbs draw his weapon, Tony and Ziva following his lead. Gibbs stopped for a moment when he reached Ziva's side, handing her her weapon and placing a hand on her cheek, "You okay?" She nodded, taking the weapon and turned back to the van.

No one was in the driver seat, so they moved to the back. Gibbs reached out and threw open the door, standing back as they aimed their weapons. Vance and Fornell looked pissed as they stood at, held at gunpoint by two of Hastings' men.

"Hand over your guns," they heard Hastings as the prisoners were moved closer to the front of the van. He walked into their view. "And get into the van."

**They reluctantly handed over their weapons as they were forced into Hastings' van...**


	7. Chapter 7

**_Gibbs' arm wrapped around Tony's shoulders, holding him steady as he writhed in agony in the back seat of the speeding car..._**

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_

"You thought you could pull one over on me," Hastings told the seated agents. "Saving your agents before I could skip town. I must say, I am impressed. But as I told you before, I've planned for everything." His goon handed him a black velvet cloth. He unwrapped it, revealing a pre-filled syringe and two vials. He picked up the syringe and wrapped the cloth back around the vials, handing it back to his goon. He pressed the excess air from the needle as he walked towards Tony.

"What's that?" Tony asked. Hastings stuck the needle in Tony's arm without warning and emptied it. "Ow!" Tony hissed and rubbed his arm.

"What did you just give him?" Gibbs asked, angrily.

"It's another insurance policy, Agent Gibbs. In about ten minutes, Agent Dinozzo will begin to show symptoms from an overdose of what I just gave him." Ziva met Tony's eyes as the man continued. "It will start with any number of things...trouble breathing, sweating, nausea, cramping...maybe some neurological issues."

"What kind of insurance is that for you?" Gibbs spat. Hastings took back the cloth from his goon.

"There are two vials here. One contains what I just injected into your agent...if administered, it will kill him instantly. The other contains its antidote. They look identical, as you can see," he handed them to Gibbs. "Except for the label, of course. A and B." Gibbs looked back up from the vials. "You will all leave here and go back to your office, allowing me to leave. Once I've reached safety, I will call you to tell you which one the antidote is."

"How do we know you're not full of shit?" Tony asked through his teeth. Hastings grinned.

"Have I not been a man of my word?" he asked. Tony looked at him with hatred. "You'll have to trust me. But if you don't administer the antidote within two hours, he will die." Gibbs looked at Tony...then back to the devil man before them.

* * *

Vance screeched onto the interstate with Abby in the middle front seat, clutching the vials in her hands, Fornell to her right, and the three agents in back. "Why do I have to sit in the middle?" Tony whined.

"Because Gibbs said so," Ziva smirked at him. Gibbs was on the phone with Ducky, explaining what had happened and the list of symptoms that Hastings' clued them in on.

"I guess I feel like, since this could be the last two hours of my life, I should have a choice where I sit on the ride home."

"That's not funny, Tony," Abby said, not looking back at him.

"I know it's not funny, Abs. I should have a window seat. I could start throwing up at any given moment." Ziva made a face at him.

Gibbs ended his call and tucked the phone in his suit coat pocket.

"Did Ducky have any idea what it could be?" Abby looked back at him.

"A list, actually. And we don't have time to go through it," Gibbs responded.

Tony wiped at his face and sunk back in the seat. Gibbs focused on him, "Feeling okay, Dinozzo?"

"Not bad, Boss," he said, beginning to sound a little winded. After a moment, Gibbs swiped nervously at his nose with his finger and looked out his window.

Tony sat up again, leaning forward a bit with a hand on his chest. Ziva looked over at him. "You're not going to throw up, are you?" she asked.

"No..." he said, breathing heavily. "I just...feel like I can't...get enough air." Gibbs' attention was back on Tony.

"Abs, can you turn on the AC?" Gibbs asked her.

"Yeah," she reached forward and clicked it on. She turned around in her seat and petted Tony's head, "You feel a little warm," she told him.

"That's what...all the girls tell me," he smirked. Abby smiled at him, then looked at Gibbs before turning back around. Gibbs looked at Vance in the rear view mirror and Vance met his eyes for a short moment.

"I'm going as fast as I can," he said. Gibbs looked back at Tony. He seemed to be getting even more uncomfortable. Tony detected his glare.

"I'm okay, Boss," he tried to assure him. "Oh god I'm not okay!" he suddenly lurched forward in pain. Gibbs' hand shot to his back. His agent grunted against the pain that shot through his gut.

"Tony, we're half way there," Gibbs turned toward him. "Abby's gonna run those vials and we're gonna find the antidote."

"God it...hurts..." his face was red and sweat dripped down his chin. Ziva grabbed his hand that was desperately clawing the seat between them. He accepted it and squeezed through the pain.

"Maybe we should go to the hospital," Fornell said, looking back.

"We have no idea what was in that syringe," Gibbs told him. "They can't help him any more than we can right now."

"Shit...shit...make it stop!" Tony's voice cracked as tears joined the droplets of sweat. Gibbs put his arm around his shoulders and his other hand on his arm, and tried to hold him steady as he writhed.

"Tony..." he had no more words to comfort him.

"I'm sorry, Boss...I'm sorry..." he couldn't speak any more. Abby sunk down in her seat, fresh tears washing away the streaks of mascara on her face. Ziva clung to his hand with both of hers, and she looked at Gibbs with wet eyes.

"We're almost there, Tony," he held onto him...

**_Tony couldn't understand what he was saying anymore as the pain washed through his core and the only thing stopping him from falling was the arm around his shoulders..._**

* * *

Gibbs and Ziva helped Tony down to the floor in Abby's lab where Ducky was waiting for them. Abby went straight to work readying the vials for identification. Ziva sat on her knees on the floor, allowing Tony's head to rest on her lap. Gibbs knelt down next to Tony and looked him in the eye. His breathing was short and shallow, his body twitching and jerking involuntarily.

"Still with me, Dinozzo?" he asked quietly.

"Mm...Hm..." he responded to his Boss. Ducky knelt down beside Gibbs.

"Can you give him anything for the pain, Duck?"

"I'm afraid, without knowing what's been introduced to his system, giving him a pain killer could complicate matters worse," Ducky looked sympathetically at Tony. Gibbs stood and Ducky soon followed him as he walked over toward Abby.

"We're running out of time," he said. "And still no word from Hastings. For all we know, those vials could be water."

"I'll get a blood sample and Abigail can run that as well," Ducky said.

"This guy is just gonna walk, Ducky," Gibbs said. "After everything he's done, the bad guy is getting away."

"Sometimes you have to leave it up to fate to lend a hand, Jethro," he told his friend. "But you have to put your faith in fate."

"I don't believe in fate, Duck. Last time I let a bad guy get away, one of my agents ended up dead." Ducky gave him a sad look before turning to go back to Tony. "How much longer, Abs?" he turned to his girl.

"I narrowed down the search to five possibilities Ducky gave me. I don't know how long it'll take, but it'll be faster then if we hadn't," she typed away at her computer.

"How are you doing, Abs?" he turned her to face him.

"I'm fine, Gibbs," she said, looking at him questioningly. Gibbs looked at the mess of Mascara streaks down her face. "Oh," she realized, and went to her purse, retrieving a mirror and a wet wipe and beginning to clean it off. He came up behind her and watched her in the mirror. She'd nearly erased it all when she saw the concern on his face, and she could see Tony shaking on the floor. New tears started and she quickly shut the mirror so Gibbs wouldn't see. But it was too late.

He gently turned her to face him and placed his hands on either side of her face, wiping the droplets with his thumbs. "You shouldn't wear so much make up," he said.

"That's really what you're concerned about right now?" Abby almost laughed. He smirked at her and shook his head. The machine beeped beside them. Gibbs' arms dropped and Abby went to retrieve the data. She looked at the results, reading carefully over the information. Her features fell flat. "This can't be right..." she said. Gibbs waited. "You can't have been right, Gibbs," she looked up at him.

"What is it?" he asked.

"They're nothing! They're water!"

"The son of a bitch..." Gibbs gritted his teeth.

"If we had injected that into him, he would've died instantly," Ducky said.

"He was gonna make me kill him," Gibbs said low in his voice. Ducky handed Abby the blood sample. She hurriedly began the test procedures. Gibbs walked out of the lab and into the hall and Ducky followed him out, briefly glancing at a terrified Ziva.

"Never...nn-thought...I'd have my...nn-head...in your lap..nn-Ziva," Tony grunted the sentence with the corner of his mouth turned up. She looked down at his half-open eyes looking up at her. "Glad I had..nn-the chance to...hnn-do it before...hnn-dying."

"You're not going to die, Tony," she said as tears pooled in her eyes. "You still owe me for two lunches," she attempted to make him smile again. "Don't you remember, in Lethal Weapon when Riggs was shot full of lead? He came out of that just fine."

Tony let out a groan that Ziva could interpret was laughter the only way he could get it out, his grin was gleaming. She smiled back at him with a questioning look. "Tha' was..actually..nn-Lethal Weapon...hnn-two." She laughed silently as she watched his grin continue through his shallow breathing. His grin soon faded though, and hers followed. He swallowed hard, then rolled himself onto his side; his face nuzzling up to Ziva's stomach. Then he began to breath even more frantically, his body shaking as the cramping returned full-force. His cries were muffled against her shirt.

She held onto him, tightly. Her tears sprang freely now, dropping down into his hair...

Gibbs came back into the lab alone and saw his panicked agents.

"I've got it!" Abby called out.

* * *

"Antidote Tx Nerve Agent IM," Ducky explained to the EMTs. "He needs an Atropine/Pralidoxime injection." Ducky got into the ambulance with Tony. "I'll keep you posted until you can get there," he said to Gibbs before they closed the doors and sped off.

Gibbs looked down at the street. He saw the shadow of a second person and looked over. Ziva stood there watching the ambulance disappear into the distance.

"He resuscitated me," Ziva said. "He saved my life..." Gibbs turned to her. "I was nearly dead, and he found me and saved me..." He put his hands gently on her shoulders.

"He's gonna be okay," he told her. "We all gotta hit the showers then get to the hospital. That nerve agent can be transmitted through contact, Ducky said."

* * *

"I'm so tired," Abby said as she lay in the hospital bed.

"Me too," Ziva replied in the next bed over.

"Get some sleep, girls," Gibbs said from a bed across the room.

"I still don't understand why we all need to be in the same room," Fornell whined.

"It's called isolation, Tobias," Gibbs retorted. "Now be quiet or you'll wake up Tony."

Ziva turned over on her side. Tony lay in the next bed over, hooked to monitors and IV lines. She watched his chest rise and fall in unison with hers, and it lulled her to sleep. Vance was already asleep. Fornell was pissed his clothes had to be burned. And Gibbs was content that all his agents were in one piece. But he couldn't help feeling that they were still in danger as long as Hastings was out there.

He turned over on his side and made himself close his eyes, and within moments, he was asleep...

* * *

_"The body of Roger Hastings was found earlier this morning in an unmarked van parked outside of BWI," _the newscaster reported. All four of the agents stood in the bullpen watching the big screen. _"Officials say that while using an illegal substance on an NCIS agent in attempt to escape, he'd accidentally and unknowingly poisoned himself in the process, unaware of the danger, and abandoned by his hired guns, he was left to die some time late last night." _Gibbs turned off the screen,

"I guess Ducky was right," Ziva said. "Sometimes fate does lend a hand," she turned to Tony who was sitting at his computer. The monitor showed his bank login, and he was staring at something on the screen. "What are you looking at, Tony?" she walked around to see.

"Just looking at the three million dollar deposit statement," he said.

"There's a note on the deposit, do you see?" she pointed.

"I see it now," he said and he clicked on it. A box opened up. He read it to himself. But Ziva read it aloud.

"I'm sorry for everything, son," she read, "I hope this makes up for some of it." His eyes closed for a moment and Ziva put a hand on his shoulder. "He took the money for you," she said. Gibbs and McGee looked over at them.

"He stole the money, you mean," he said.

"And look! The money-transfer has an error. Hastings never got it."

"It doesn't belong to me. Didn't even belong to Hastings. I've already contacted someone about it. There's a transfer in progress to the IRS."

"You're paying three million dollars worth of Hastings' taxes?" McGee asked.

"Actually, two point nine something something million dollars, Probie," he retorted. "Hastings needed to replace that screen somehow."

Gibbs looked at, what was now obviously the new screen.

"I've even got a surprise for you, McAnderton," Tim cocked his head. "As in John Anderton played by Tom Cruise in Minority Report..." McGee was still not putting together what that meant. "Just go touch the screen, Probie."

"Touch the..." then it clicked. "No way..." his face lit up. "You didn't!" he went up to the screen and touched the corners of the photo, attempting to enlarge it. Nothing happened. He tried it again. "I don't think it's..." then he saw the grin on Tony's face. "You didn't."

"No, I didn't, Probie. Do you have any idea how much those things cost?" he laughed at the aggravated look on his face. Ziva couldn't help but to laugh as well.

"That wasn't nice," he said.

"He's right, Tony. That was not very nice," she smiled.

Gibbs turned away from them and picked up his mug. After taking a sip, he laughed quietly.

* * *

* okay boys and girls! Think I should leave it at that? I was thinking about adding some Tony therapeutic sessions, and possibly also for the rest of the team, but im not sure. I dont wanna ruin it...


	8. Chapter 8

Gibbs set his mug down when his desk phone rang. He didn't sit when he picked up the phone, thinking they'd probably need to run out to a crime scene once he'd hung up.

Ziva stood and made her way over to Tony's desk and he looked up from his computer screen. "Want to grab a drink after work?" she asked. He tried to read her expression. The corner of his mouth turned up.

"You buying?" he waited for her retaliation. But her eyes shifted as she shrugged.

"Sure," she said, "I'll buy." His face turned from momentary confusion, to a big grin.

"You know, Zee," he stood and leaned up against the side of his desk, "They say that traumatic events shared between two people can cause...sudden infatuation," he raised a brow. Ziva put her hands down on the desk top and leaner closer to his face.

"Who are these people?" Ziva cocked her head. Tony hadn't expected the question, and his face twisted as he thought.

"People say it," he said. She glanced at McGee from the corner of her eye, her grin unchanging, and turned back to Tony. Tony turned to McGee, "People do say it, McGee."

"Or it could just be a pity drink," she retorted, smirking at how he now cocked his jaw.

"Dinozzo," Ziva stood as Tony did when they heard Gibbs call him.

"Yes, Boss..." His superior motioned for him to follow him as he turned to walk the back way out of the bullpen.

"Uh oh," McGee quietly taunted him as he walked past his desk.

"Shut up, Probie," he barely whispered. Tony disappeared behind the staircase.

"What do you think that's about?" Ziva quietly asked McGee as she approached his desk.

"I don't know, but it probably has to do with whoever just called," he motioned to Gibbs desk phone. Ziva looked over her shoulder toward where Tony and Gibbs had just left. She cautiously backed up, trying to seem inconspicuous, looking around once more to make sure no one was looking. Then she peeked back over her shoulder and down at the last caller name. It only took her a moment to put it together, and she looked back over at McGee, who was waiting for her to tell him what she'd discovered...

* * *

Gibbs and Dinozzo stopped under the NCIS seal where the stairs made a corner in the wall. "What's up, Boss?" Tony asked curiously.

"I just got a call," he started, looking down for a moment before looking at his agent's face again. "From Reno PD," he carefully inspected Tony's reaction. But Tony's face went blank and looked back and forth between Gibbs' eyes, dreading what he was about to tell him. "They found your dad," he said. Tony didn't react, and Gibbs realized he was waiting for further confirmation. Regretfully, he shook his head, "I'm sorry, Tony," he said quietly.

His agent still stood there, without expression on his face, and a blank look in his eye. Then he heard him let out his breath and he began to back away. "Okay," he said. "I'm--," his back hit the wall and he turned to step around the obstacle, "I'm just gonna...go get some coffee," he turned and walked past the staircase.

"Tony," Gibbs walked after him as he walked around to the front of the bullpen. "Dinozzo," he said a little louder and Tony stopped in his tracks but didn't turn around. Ziva and McGee looked over at Tony's back. "You -"

"I'm fine, Boss!" he laughed as he said it and turned around, trying to contain what he was desperately holding back. "I'm just going for coffee." He stood there, waiting for Gibbs to protest, but it didn't come. He didn't look at Ziva or McGee as he turned back toward the elevator.

Ziva waited, standing there watching as the elevator doors closed behind Tony, and Gibbs turned to walk back toward his desk. She stood still in front of him and he stopped when he realized she was in his path.

"They found his father's body," she more confirmed, then asked. Gibbs nodded. She looked in his eyes for a moment, then over at Tony's desk. She walked to it and picked something up, "He forgot his car keys," she held them up as she walked toward the elevator.

When she pressed the button, the doors opened immediately and she was surprised to see Tony still in the elevator, holding himself up on the hand rail. She walked in slowly, and only then did he realize he'd neglected to hit the button, and he straightened himself. Ziva flicked the emergency switch and the lights and sound dimmed around them. Tony looked at her.

"Why did you do that?" he asked.

"Because you looked like you needed someone to talk to," she said, turning to face him. "You're upset."

"Why should I be upset, Ziva? It- it- it's not like he ever really gave a shit about me," his hands moved with his words, trying to make her understand. "He lied to me his whole life! He lied to everyone he's ever met! Hell, he even died lying!" he realized he'd backed up into the corner. And all at once his features went from anger to anguish...and he tried to hide his face as he slid slowly down the corner to the floor. "God I'm so- stupid!" he cried against his palms. Ziva knelt down beside him. "I actually thought..." he laughed, "That maybe he was alive, and it was all some sick joke Hastings planned." Ziva reached out and gently pulled his hands from his face.

As she looked at him, she recalled everything they'd been through in the past couple of days...all of the fear and pain...and then the relief that she'd felt when Tony took his first unrestricted breath in the hospital after receiving the antidote. She wanted him to feel that relief...

"Pretty pathetic, right?" he smiled, sniffling any remaining tears back into submission. _"Dinozzos don't cry,"_ he heard in his head. She shook her head and leaned toward him, pulling him into an embrace.

"I'm sorry, Tony," she said gently as he returned the hug.

"I've been hearing that a lot lately," he smirked. She pulled away slightly, looking at the line his tears had made down his cheek. She leaned in and pressed her lips high on his cheek, holding it there for just a moment before pulling her head away.

Tony looked into her eyes and found comfort in them. And he froze when she leaned in a second time and kissed his mouth. Just a peck...and pulled slightly back. But it had suddenly ignited something inside him and his hand slowly moved from her back to her cheek

They met each other in the middle this time. The second kiss beginning like the first, but soon deepening with fervored passion.

Ziva had not entered the elevator with the intention of making out with her partner, but she wasn't about to object. When she felt herself being pulled up, she opened her eyes and Tony's forehead rested on hers as he stood them both up, his eyes never leaving hers. And when she looked into his eyes, she saw something different...

Yes, they had kissed before...a literal charade as they were undercover and being watched. They had to pretend then. But now...this...looking into his eyes, she noticed something much more...

The speckled green color of his irides were now merely a thin lining to his dilated pupils as bore into hers, he seemed to be lost in indecision. But they closed again as his lips met hers once more, pushing her against the wall he'd been suffering in just moments before.

She groaned when she felt his fingers snake up just under the hem of her shirt, making contact with her skin. The sound made him press himself fully against her. Her head fell back as he kissed down her jawline and down to the sensitive skin of her neck.

She moved her hips against him, which earned her a groan from Tony...

Then suddenly her cell rang out. And as if it was an alarm clock waking them from a dream, they separated, catching their breath.

Tony swallowed and backed away when he saw Ziva's head swimming in thought. She glanced up at him, nervously, then answered the phone she had pulled from her pocket.

"What is it, McGee?" she asked.

_"Uh, sorry, Ziva...Boss wants to know if you could ask Tony to grab him a coffee while he's out."_ She sighed.

"I'll tell him," she ended the call and flicked the switch back on. The lights offended their eyes for a moment. "Gibbs wants you to get him a coffee," she said, and the door opened. She turned to him briefly as she made sure her hair was in place, then walked out.

Tony watched her as the doors closed. His eyes closed for a moment as he let out a breath and pressed the elevator button. "Shit..."

* * *

Ziva looked over toward the bullpen and could see Gibbs and McGee talking. McGee looked at her from the corner of his eye and she could see Gibbs begin to turn his head, so she quickly looked away and made a B-line for the bathroom.

When she got to her destination, she locked the door from the inside. Making sure no one else was in there, she went to the sink and turned on the water, splashing some of the cool liquid on her face. She turned it off and grabbed for a paper towel.

As she dried her hands and face she looked in the mirror; her lips flush from Tony's fevered kisses. Her fingers went to them, then trailed down to her neck, just as he did in the elevator.

Tears stung her eyes and she closed them. She questioned herself...wondering if she had just taken advantage of him. She loved him...she had for a long time. But his advances had always been playful and in good fun. He played with her, and she played back. She had always been content with that, but never brave enough to risk revealing the truth; even when she watched the other women come and go.

The last thing she'd wanted was to cross that line, then be released, and what friendship they'd had be destroyed. And the way he'd jumped away when the phone rang...she wasn't sure what to think...

* * *

Gibbs scratched his chest through his shirt where he'd bandaged himself up the day before last. He made his way up the final set of steps up to MTAC where Vance was waiting for him.

As he made his way to the front row where the director was watching live surveillance, he glanced around the room. He sat down next to his superior.

"Got a call from Reno PD," Vance started, "Right before I had them call and inform you. I take it you've told Tony?"

"Yeah," he nodded.

"I'm gonna have them ship the body here for autopsy." Gibbs cocked his head.

"It _is_ our case," he agreed.

"Yes, it is," he said. "I just wanted to give you a heads up..."

"So that I could give Tony a heads up," Gibbs finished. Vance looked over at him, silent for just a moment. He knew what Gibbs was implying; that he was passing down the job of bearing bad news, to him.

"I wanted to give you a heads up because you might want to keep Dinozzo out of the morgue."

"Tony can handle seeing him," Gibbs looked at the screen.

"Maybe..." Vance said, "If he was in one piece." Gibbs looked at Vance again. He didn't want to hear this; not more bad news for Tony. It was tough enough watching him put on his brave face for the sake of his team...it was only a matter of time before all of that could boil over.

But he had to hear it. It was his job to protect his team...because they weren't just his team anymore. They had been much more than that for a long time...they were his family...

"They found him," Vance quietly spoke, "Decapitated... Cut into pieces. Packed in freezer bags...and stuffed in a freezer at a casino buffet kitchen..."

* * *

Tony balanced four cups of coffee in a tray in one hand and a paper bag in the other as he stepped off of the elevator and made his way over to the bullpen. "You got everyone coffee?" McGee asked with a suspicious look on his face.

"I was feeling generous," he said as he set the items on McGee's desk. McGee looked down at the coffee then back up at Tony as he pulled out a cup and opened the bag to retrieve the creamers and sugar.

"You did something to mine, didn't you..."

"No..." Tony made a face at him, but then looked to the side. "But that would've been a great idea." He pulled one of the cups out of the tray and handed it to Tim. Tim hesitated. "Seriously, Probie? You don't believe me?" He brought the cup to Gibbs' desk and set it down. "Would I put something in Gibbs' coffee?"

"No, I guess not..." McGee chose a cup and pulled it from the tray. "Thanks, Tony," he smiled, apologetically.

"Where _is_ Gibbs?"

"Right here, Dinozzo," Gibbs said, rounding the corner. He picked up the cup from his desk. "Thanks for the coffee," he took a sip and glanced over at Ziva's empty desk. "McGee," he said looking over at him, "Where's Ziva?"

"She, uh...went down to see Abby," he answered. Gibbs looked up in thought for a moment.

"Abby's not running anything for us right now..." he said.

"Yeah, I know. That's what I told her, but she went anyway." Gibbs thought for a moment and looked at Tony.

"I can go down and get her-" Tony started.

"No," Gibbs said and headed out of the bullpen, "You stay here."

Tony watched his boss as he walked away, then turned to McGee, "Why do I get the feeling everyone's avoiding me?"

"Maybe they are," McGee said after he swallowed a mouthful of coffee. Tony's face blanked at McGee. "Oh..." McGee panicked, "I- I- I was just kidding, Tony!" he stuttered. Tony made a face and reached down to take back the coffee in retaliation, but McGee pulled the cup toward himself, protectively. "Please don't take my coffee...I just got the perfect amount of sugar and cream in it..."

Tony put his hand down, in no mood to continue to toy with him, and picked up the remaining two coffees. He placed one on Ziva's desk, then brought his with him to sit at his own. Tim looked over at the silent agent, opening his mouth to say something, then quickly shutting it again, realizing that Tony's mind was far from anything currently going on in the bullpen...

* * *

Abby had been surprised to see Ziva when she showed up in the lab, offering a Caf-Pow in exchange for use of her unoccupied office. As she sipped slowly at the frosty beverage and watching the screen as the computer did a scheduled back-up, she glanced at Ziva through the glass.

She just sat there with her eyes closed in the office chair. The ordinarily unreadable woman displayed preoccupation as her brow remained furrowed.

"Hey, Abs," Gibbs said as he walked into the lab. "You seen Ziva?"

"Yeah. She's at my desk," she looked over at her as Gibbs did. "I think she's sleeping, but I can't really be sure."

"How long has she been there?" he asked, making his way toward the office door.

"Like twenty minutes."

He entered the office and spoke, "If you're tired, Ziva," Her eyes shot open and she stood immediately. "There are quieter places to take a nap."

"No, I am fine," she said. "I just needed a few minutes to...collect my thoughts."

He knew her better than that. He looked at her for a moment before he decided to speak again. "I'm not gonna ask you what happened when you went to give Tony his keys," he said and she looked down at her feet, "But I _am_ gonna tell you something because I'm gonna need your help tomorrow." She looked back up at him. "And because...I know you can handle it." But after he told her what Vance had said to him, he realized he had been wrong...

Ziva shot straight for the waste basket sitting next to the desk and emptied the small amount of contents from her stomach into it.

"Damnit, Ziva, I'm sorry..." he said filled with honest regret as he handed her a napkin that was sitting next to the keyboard. "You didn't need that image in your head any more than I did..."

"No," she quietly replied. "That is not why I..." she wiped her mouth and threw the napkin away. She stood up straight and composed herself before looking at Gibbs. And for a moment she paused, seeing the empathy clear on his face; a look she'd never received from her own father. "Tony...has been through so much..." she began.

"I know," Gibbs nodded.

"I don't know how much more he can handle before...before it breaks him," her voice cracked, for she knew all too well how things like this could change a person.

"And that's why I need your help," he moved closer to her. "They're bringing the body here tomorrow. Tony can't see his dad like that. We've gotta make sure..."

* * *

Ziva and Gibbs walked into the bullpen, filing into their desks and sitting down. She noticed the cup of coffee in front of her and looked up at Tony. He met her eyes for a moment, giving her a half smile then glancing back to the screen in front of him.

She picked up the cup and took a small sip. She was more than a little surprised when it was already fixed exactly as she liked it. She looked back at Tony, who was looking at her again. The corner of her mouth playfully curled up into a smile at him.

_"Good,"_ she thought. _"Then things are back to how they should be..."_ And though part of her was disappointed, she was relieved that they were going to be okay.

* * *

The work day ended up being longer then any of them had thought. Not because they had a case, but because of the paperwork that needed to get done from the Hastings case. McGee yawned at his desk as he shut down his computer.

"Man, I'm wiped," he said to no one in particular.

"It's 7:30, Probie," Tony said as he raised a brow in his direction. "Way past your bedtime."

"Very funny," he said. "Staring at a computer screen all day can wear a guy out."

"Well I guess that all depends on the content you're viewing on that screen," Tony gave a devilish grin and Ziva picked up on the accusation immediately, mimicking his smirk.

"Anyway, I'm finished, so I'm going home," he packed up his things.

"Well, I could go for a drink, myself," Gibbs said, unexpectedly.

"Well," Ziva spoke up as she stood, "Tony and I were going to grab a drink after work, if you'd like to join us?" Inwardly, Tony was a bit surprised the plan still stood. Gibbs considered Ziva's request as he looked at her.

"Why not," he said after a moment and turned off his own computer.

"Sure you wanna go home, McGee?" Tony asked with a smirk, "This could turn into a party." He was going to object, but then he thought for a moment. This could be a form of support to Tony.

"One drink," he finally agreed.

* * *

Several drinks later, the group seemed to be well into a good job of distraction. They had listened to Gibbs tell them stories of pranks he and his friends in the corp used to pull to ease the long hours of boredom while waiting to be shipped out. Stories he'd never shared with them in the past. They spent a good amount of the time laughing with him.

"You know," Ziva said after she finished the last bit of the alcohol in her glass, "You and Tony are a lot more alike then you think," she said to Gibbs.

"Don't insult the man," Tony said.

"No, she's right," Gibbs retorted. "I wasn't much unlike you back in those days." He polished of the rest of his drink.

"You flatter me, Boss," he smirked. He brought his glass to his lips

"Did you...just call Gibbs fat?" McGee slurred. Tony couldn't contain the burst of laughter that overcame him and his mouthful of drink showered out in McGee's face.

"Oh my God, McFrickinGee!" he laughed. "You are so drunk!"

"Drunk enough to not kick your ass too hard for ruining my shirt," McGee stood up, wavered and immediately sat back down. "Tomorrow..." he added.

"Alright," Gibbs said, amused but serious, "I think we've all had enough to drink tonight."

"Boss, it's like nine o'clock!" he said, but saw the glare. "Okay, okay. Well I can't let all this Jack go to waste. So here," he motioned for them to hold the glasses closer to him. "You all can help me finish it," he said as he poured a shot in each glass. "And I'll make a toast!" he raised his glass in front of him. "To..." he thought for a moment. The others glanced at once another as they wondered what he might be thinking. "To family," he said finally. They were all still for a moment as Tony held the glass out.

"To family," Gibbs said and clanged his glass to his. McGee and Ziva did the same, and they took the shot.

"Well, I see I'm too late for the party," Doctor Mallard said as he neared the table.

"But just in time to take us all home," Gibbs smiled at him.

"It'd be my pleasure," he said, "But we're taking your car. McGee looks like he might vomit." Tony laughed and stood, putting his arm around Ducky's shoulder.

"I ever tell you that I love you, Duck?" he said. Ducky laughed.

"Probably the last time we were all in here. Now let's get you home." They began walking toward the exit after leaving money on the table. But Tony stayed standing where he was.

"I don't wanna go home," he said. Gibbs turned to face him. "There's no one else there." Gibbs considered Tony's words carefully as he took his shoulder and helped lead him out.

"We should probably make sure McGee doesn't choke on his own vomit, anyway," he joked. Tony laughed.

"Hey, McGee!" Tony shouted to the man who was a little ahead of them with Ziva and Ducky. "We're takin' the party to your house, man!"

"What?"

* * *

Ziva rode quietly in the car beside Ducky after they'd settled the boys in at McGee's apartment.

"Something troubling you, my dear?" Ducky asked.

"I'm worried about Tony," she admitted. "They're shipping his father's body to you tomorrow."

"Yes, Jimmy told me after he received the fax from RPD."

"Gibbs and I are supposed to distract him from going down to the morgue."

"I'm worried about him, too," he told her. "Jethro spoke with me earlier. I'd have to agree with the decision. But as I told him, if Tony wishes to see his father's remains, I cannot deny him that right. You'll have to keep the information from him altogether. At least until I'm finished with the autopsy. We also received a fax copy of the Will they found in his wallet. He wished to be cremated. One blessing Tony's father did leave the dear boy."

* * *

McGee was passed out in his bed, snoring loudly. Gibbs was laying on the couch looking through a random book that had been sitting on the end table, and Tony had a pillow on the floor going the opposite way, and blanket draped lazily on the lower half of his body. He was sitting with his back against the front of the couch, making a face at the offensive noise coming from McGee.

"How can he sleep through that?" he said. "Who's bright idea was this again?"

"Yours," Gibbs reminded him.

"Right..." he fussed with the blanket for a moment. "Y' know, Boss, when I said 'family'," Gibbs looked down at him, and Tony's face was looking at the wall on the other side of the room as he spoke, "I meant the team." Gibbs smirked, already having figured that out. "Y'know...you and me and Ziva...and McGee. And Abby and Ducky too," he said through a big yawn. "I'm tired," he said and laid down on the pillow, pulling the covers up over his arms. "Hey, Boss," he said, not moving from the pillow, "Thanks for comin' out with us tonight." Gibbs smirked again.

"G'night, Dinozzo," he said, scooting down comfortably on the couch.

* * *

Okay im about to pass out...i'll get more in tomorrow! :)


	9. Chapter 9

Tony and Gibbs strolled into the bullpen from the elevator and Ziva looked up. "Where's McGee?" she questioned.

"He's cleaning the vomit out of my backseat," Gibbs said, slightly annoyed, as he made his way to his desk.

"Oh, poor McGee," Ziva laughed and looked over at Tony. "And how about you, Tony?" she smirked at him.

"I can handle my liquor, Ziva," he smirked back at her. "I learned my lesson a long time ago about showing up on the job with a hangover," he opened his coffee cup and blew on the steaming liquid inside. "Hey, you think you can give me a ride over to the bar so I can get my car later?"

Her reply was interrupted by the director who had just come into the bullpen. "Gibbs," he said as Gibbs looked up at him. "RPD sent me a fax this morning," he said quietly so the other agents wouldn't overhear the conversation, "Said they picked up a suspect. They're sending him here with..." he didn't continue the sentence as he saw Gibbs' eyes shift over in the direction of Tony's desk. "They should be here in about two hours."

Gibbs nodded at him, and Vance walked out the back of the bullpen to return to his office. He put his elbow up on his desk and rubbed the stubble on his chin as he thought about the upcoming hours. His eyes wandered over to Ziva, and she looked at him when she sensed his gaze.

She could tell what was on his mind and she looked over in Tony's direction. His coffee cup was tipped up as he finished the last of his coffee, then threw it into his waste basket.

"Gotta use the head," he said as he stood and made his way toward the bathroom. Ziva watched him in the corner of her eye as he disappeared into the lavatory. Then her attention went to the elevator as McGee stepped out, slowly making his way toward the bullpen trying desperately to conceal his discomfort. This made Ziva smile deviously and she stood, picking up a bottle of water from her desk and following him to his. "You should drink this," she said and he spun around, startled to hear her so close behind him.

"Thanks," he said, sarcastically, as he took the bottle and sat down.

"Are you feeling any better?"

"I'll live," he said, watching her carefully as he waited for her to continue giving him a hard time. But Gibbs interrupted it.

"Why don't you take Dinozzo to lunch around eleven," he suggested to them from his desk.

"What if we get a case?" Tim asked.

"We already have one," he told him, looking down at a paper on his desk. McGee looked up at Ziva, wondering if she knew what he was talking about, but she still looked at him with a grin playing on her lips. He looked back over at his boss.

"Uh...Boss, I just got here, so I'm not exactly sure what you're-"

"I'll fill you in when the suspect gets here," he told him. McGee was still slightly confused.

"Is there a crime scene to investigate?" he asked.

"Already been processed, McGee," his boss answered, slightly annoyed at his continuing questions.

"Right," he looked back at Ziva again and took a swig of the water. "Boss-"

"Crime scene was investigated by the Reno PD, McGee. Anymore questions?" he was looking at his agent now. Tim swallowed.

"No..." he guzzled down half of the water and looked back at Ziva again. "Is there something on my face, Ziva?" Her smile got a little bigger before turning and walking back toward her desk.

"That was another question," she said.

"What?"

"You answered 'no' when Gibbs asked if you had anymore questions," she sat down and resumed her smirk before turning to her computer screen. Tim sighed, then downed the rest of his water and threw the bottle away.

"Remind me never to drink Jack Daniels again," he said. Gibbs smirked, and Tony walked back into the bullpen.

"Probie!" he smiled. "Did you get out all the little chunks from the floorboards?" he made a scrubbing motion with his hand as he passed McGee's desk. Tim's face suddenly turned green.

"Oh god..." he shot up from his desk and ran to the bathroom.

"Sorry, McGoo," he grinned, quite pleased with himself, as he sat at his desk.

"That was not nice," Ziva said to him, amused.

"Hey, I'm nice," Tony defended. He pulled open a drawer in his desk and pulled out a bottle of antacids, holding it up for Ziva to see before walking it over to Tim's desk and placing it next to the keyboard.

"When you want to be," she smirked and returned her attention to the screen.

* * *

"That was nice of Gibbs to let us all go out to lunch," Tony said as he finished his last french fry.

"I think he just wanted a break from you two," Ziva said, forking a bit of her salad. "You _have_ been with him since yesterday morning." McGee picked off another small piece of bread from his nearly untouched sandwich.

"Still feelin' a little queasy there, McGee?" he asked as he watched Tim pick at his food.

"No," he replied. "I just don't want the queasiness to come back." Tony took a sip of his water. "Maybe I should just throw this away. We should probably be getting back."

"No," Ziva said. She looked between him and Tony for a moment. "We have some time still. We can wait for you to finish."

"But Gibbs said a suspect's being brought in-" he started, but Ziva glared at him, and he realized that she had been keeping that fact from Tony, "-which uh..." he panicked as he thought of how to save the objective, "Which won't...be in for at least another..." he glanced at his watch, "Twenty...thirty minutes from now."

"I wasn't aware we had a case," Tony questioned him, then looked over at Ziva...

* * *

"Anthony Dinozzo Sr.," Jimmy Palmer read in a report that he'd been handed when two large coolers were brought in only moments ago. "Doctor Mallard?" he asked the man who was now slipping on a pair of latex gloves.

"Yes, Jimmy. That _would_ be Tony's father," he replied to the question before it could be asked.

"But all they brought in here were these coolers..."

"That," he explained, "Is where his body lies...in pieces, of course." Jimmy nodded.

"Does he know he's here?"

"No," he said and looked up at him, "And that fact needs to remain, Mr. Palmer." He opened the coolers and took in the sight. "Have you ever heard of Shamanic ritual dismemberment?" Palmer shook his head as he assisted the doctor in unloading the bags. "Mircea Eliade explained in an article, the Siberian Shaman's initiatory ordeal, that a future shaman remained unconscious for three days. Passing through an opening, he met a naked man plying the bellows at an immense fire on which was a kettle. The man caught him with a hook, cut off his head..." Ducky picked up the severed head that was packed in the second cooler and set it down on the autopsy table next to the other pieces, "Which was set to one side, for the novice must watch his own dismemberment with his own eyes... and chopped his body into bits and put them all into the kettle. There he boiled the body for "three years" and then forged him a new head on an anvil."

Palmer seemed amused at that. "Sounds more like Dr. Frankenstein."

"Yes...well...," he continued, "Finally, he fished out the bones, which were floating in a river, put them together and covered them with flesh. In some cases he is also given new blood." All of the pieces were out, and they began removing them from the bags. "During his adventures in the other world, the future shaman met several semi-divine personages in human or animal form and each of them revealed doctrines to him or taught him secrets in the art of healing. When he awoke amongst his relatives, he was initiated and could begin his life as a Shaman."

They put the bags back into the coolers and closed them. "Unfortunately for Anthony Sr., such possibilities do not exist." He sighed as he considered the fact that Tony would never again see his father as he knew him...

* * *

Tony followed McGee and Ziva back to NCIS in Gibbs' car so that they could bring their cars back from the bar parking lot they'd left them at the night before. Ziva hopped in after she parked her car, so they could go back and retrieve Tony's.

"So are you gonna tell me who's being brought in to interrogation today? Or is it a secret?" he asked her as they rounded the corner. She took a deep breath and let it out.

"I suppose I can't keep that from you," she said. He glanced at her then back to the road. "Reno PD picked up a suspect who returned the scene," she explained and looked at him.

"And Gibbs told you to keep your mouth shut," he concluded.

"Not really...not in so many words." He remained quiet for the remainder of the short trip back to the parking lot.

He got out of the car and Ziva slid over to the driver side and rolled down the window. "What will you do when you see him?" He turned to her, considering the question for a moment as he unlocked his door and opened it.

"I'm gonna ask him if he killed my father..."

* * *

Gibbs walked into the morgue, Ducky turning at the sound of the door. He stepped up to the autopsy table and looked at the puzzle that the doctor had managed to arrange. His stomach churned for a split second and he looked at Ducky, awaiting his report.

"As it read in the preliminary report, Mr. Dinozzo was cut up, postmortem. Judging by the precision, I'd say whoever did this has done it before. He may even have a medical background. The cause of death," he turned and walked over to the decapitated head, "Was the second shot, which entered the back of the skull," he turned the head over to show him, "And exited the jugular," he turned it back to the front and pointed out the area.

"Where was the first shot?" Gibbs questioned.

"It appears, that the shooter either missed, or the victim tried to dodge the bullet, nicking the tip of his ear," he showed him."The bullets have been sent up to Abby, along with the rest of the evidence they pulled." Gibbs nodded and looked at the man's wrists. "Ah, yes," he noticed where he's been looking, "The victim's wrists were bound by, what I believe could have been duct tape. The markings are red and swollen, but there are no minor lacerations which would be caused by rope or handcuffs."

Gibbs remained silent as his eyes scanned over the many pieces. Ducky took it upon himself to continue.

"Calculating time of death is nearly impossibly, as in most cases in which the body is frozen. The freezer bags prevented any type of crystallization from forming, which would've allowed me to make a better assumption. However, I believe he died instantly after being shot. And since you were an ear-witness, I believe you already know the time."

Gibbs nodded. "How much longer do I have to keep Dinozzo outta here?" he asked.

"I'm in the process of pulling some strings in order to have the body cremated. I'll let you know, Jethro."

* * *

Gibbs walked into the bullpen to grab a file from his desk and glanced at his agents' desks.

"Where's Dinozzo?" he asked McGee.

"He and Ziva went back to pick up his car..." McGee answered as the elevator door opened and Ziva rushed out, freezing when she met Gibbs' eyes.

"Where's Tony?" he asked her.

"He beat me back here," she rushed over, ashamed she'd lost him.

"Does he know?" he asked flat out. She shook her head.

"He knows there's a suspect," McGee said and they both turned to look at him. "Next time we're supposed to keep secrets from Tony, it'd be nice to let me in on it," he said with a furrow in his brow. Gibbs glared at him for a moment, realizing he was right.

"I'll keep that in mind," he said as he hurriedly turned toward the stairs to race down to interrogation.

"Come on, McGee," Ziva said, and they hurried to the elevator.

* * *

Gibbs opened the door to the observation room to find Tony standing by the two-way mirror, staring at the man who sat at the table in the interrogation room.

"You gotta let me talk to him, Boss," he said without turning from his position. Gibbs looked at the agent at the recording desk and motioned for him to leave the room. He obliged and Gibbs quietly closed the door behind him.

"You know I can't let you do that," he said. "Personal interest..."

"I think, at this point, we all have a personal interest..." he said, looking beside him at his boss. Gibbs didn't respond. "If it was your father...would you just be standing in here?"

Gibbs considered his question...

* * *

Ziva and Tim raced into the observation room, both astonished to see the Tony was in the interrogation room with Gibbs. "What is he thinking?" Ziva said in a whisper as they approached the mirror.

***

"We found your prints all over the hotel room," Gibbs said to the Arab-looking man as he placed a file down on the desk.

"It is a hotel room," he answered, emotionless. "There are probably prints from thousands of people."

"Those rooms are cleaned after every occupant. Yours were the only ones found on the bathroom sink." The man was quiet for a moment. Then the corner of his mouth turned up.

"Is that the evidence you hope to convict me with?" Both Gibbs and Dinozzo squinted at the man's reply. Gibbs opened the file and pulled out some photos, sliding them in front of him.

"Security cameras show you coming and going from the hotel the day of the murder."

"I never denied having stayed in the hotel."

"And you don't deny you returned to the room after the fact?" he asked.

"I was supposed to meet someone."

"Who?"

"That is none of your business," he leaned back in his chair. Gibbs slammed his fist on the table.

"The hell it is!" he yelled. But the man showed no fear of his words.

"It has to be pretty aggravating to be the one guy that got picked up," Tony said, not moving from his relaxed position in the chair. "There's what...twenty of you?"

"I work with no one," he said.

"And what exactly is it that you do, Mr..." he looked at the file, "Abdul... Any relation to Paula?" Abdul ignored his second question.

"I was a physician," he responded. This caught Gibbs' attention. "But I have not practiced since my wife died over a year ago."

"A physician who can no longer do his job," Tony said, leaning back in his chair again, "Seems like someone who would take odd jobs here and there...maybe run into someone with promises of big pay."

"We found fingerprints on the body," Gibbs chimed in. This, in turn, caught Abdul's attention. "If you have something to confess, I suggest you tell us now."

Abdul's face was a mixture of aggravation and fear as he looked down at the table. Gibbs knew he had him, and he waited for the man to crack. But he didn't expect the smile that appeared on his face as he looked up at Tony.

"You are his son, aren't you?" he said in a low voice. Tony straightened. Gibbs glared at Abdul, trying to will him to shut up. "You look like him...he spoke fondly of you." He started laughing with his next words, "He begged us not to involve you in it." Gibbs stood.

"That's enough," he said, pulling out his handcuffs and making his way around the table. Abdul leaned in towards Tony as he spoke again.

"You should know I took extra care when cutting him up to fit into the freezer..." Gibbs pulled Abdul up violently, slamming him into the wall, and dug the barrel of his gun into his neck. He glared at him with anger in his eyes. A long moment passed as he waited for him to give him a reason to pull the trigger.

Ziva burst into the room with McGee and they stood still in the doorway. She looked over at Tony who concentrated on not giving Abdul the satisfaction of a reaction.

"Why did you go back to the room?" Gibbs asked through his teeth. The man's smile faded.

"To get paid," he said.

"By whom?" Gibbs' grasp on his shirt tightened. Abdul smiled again.

"Hastings."

"Hastings is dead."

"That's what he wanted everyone to think," he laughed. Gibbs considered what he'd just been told.

"Book him, McGee," he threw the cuffed man in his direction, and he took him out of the room.

He turned toward Tony, who was staring at the wall where Abdul had just been. "Tony..."

"Is he here?" he asked, looking at him. Gibbs hesitated to reply.

"You shouldn't see him, Tony," he said.

"So you've seen him...so it's true," Tony looked back at the wall. Gibbs looked at Ziva. She seemed to read his mind when he motioned toward the door with his eyes. He wanted her to go warn Ducky.

When she left, Tony stood, slowly going toward the door.

"Tony...you shouldn't see him like that."

"But I need to," he said. Gibbs moved in front of him.

"He wouldn't want you to."

"I don't care what he didn't want!" Tony shouted, then backed up for a moment, closing his eyes and putting his arms up, folding his hands and setting them to rest on the top of his head.

He opened his eyes, "Somehow, remembering him how he was, doesn't seem much better then seeing him as he is now..." Gibbs looked at him with sadness at the words that reflected his pain.

* * *

"Ducky!" Ziva yelled as she ran into the morgue. He turned to her when he heard the desperation in her voice. "Ducky, Tony knows..." she said.

"Oh my," he replied. "They haven't arrived to pick him up for cremation, yet," he said. Her eyes shifted back and forth between his as she thought. She looked past him at the empty autopsy tables, then down to the coolers that sat on the floor. She placed a fingers over her mouth. Then she looked back at the doctor, who seemed as lost as she.

"Then I'll wait until he comes..."

* * *

Gibbs sat at his desk with his elbows on the flat surface and his folded hands propping his head up. He didn't stop Dinozzo when he walked out of interrogation. He couldn't deny him his right, no matter how bad the result could be. Now, he awaited a return call from the Baltimore PD, praying that what Abdul had said was a lie.

McGee tried not to stare at his preoccupied boss. He, too, was worried for his friend. The fact that, added to his dismay, there was now a fear of Hastings' survival, didn't help matters...

They both jumped when his Gibbs cell rang. "Gibbs," he answered.

_"Is Tony with you?" _Ziva said on the other line.

"No. Did he show up down there?"

_"No. They just left with the body,"_ she explained. _"So you have not seen him?"_

"He left interrogation before I did..." he ended the call and stood from his desk, looking briefly at McGee. "Come sit over here," he pointed at his chair. McGee stood. "If Baltimore PD calls, you pick up," he headed toward the elevator.

"W-where you goin', Boss?" he said as he sat at Gibbs' desk.

"To find Tony..."

* * *

He first checked to make sure Tony's car was still at NCIS. Then he went to the lab. Abby was holding the phone to her ear as she looked at the screen in front of her. Gibbs cell rang. Abby spun around.

"Gibbs! I was just calling you," she hung up the phone. "The prints we lifted from the body match Abdul's. _And _the bullets both came from the same gun, registered to him." Gibbs was walking around, looking through the office as she spoke. "What are you doing?" she asked.

"You seen Dinozzo?"

"Do you come to me every time one of your agent's goes missing?" He glared at her. "No, I haven't seen him." He turned around to walk out and she turned back to her screen with a disappointed face. Then she felt a kiss on her cheek.

"Good work," he whispered. She smiled.

He walked out of the lab and toward the elevator, stopping for a moment and looking over at the door to the stairs. He opened it quietly and looked up first, then down, and saw Tony sitting in the middle of them, against the wall where his head rested.

Gibbs made his way down to him and sat, silently.

"I couldn't do it," he confessed without looking at him. "You were right...he wouldn't want me to have seen him like that." They were both quiet for a moment. "He was a sorry excuse for a father..." he said and shook his head as he smirked. "But he didn't deserve to die like that." Gibbs nodded, though Tony could only see him out the corner of his eye. "I know I'm way too old to be your kid," he said, "But...you're more like a father to me then he ever was," he glanced at him briefly before looking back down at his lap. "Not that that says much for you," he smiled, allowing himself a small laugh.

Gibbs laughed at that as well. Then he patted Tony's shoulder

Tony squinted, "You're not gonna hug me, are ya, Boss?" he flinched. Gibbs laughed again, reaching his arm up and smacking him in the back of the head, lightly. The agent straightened up. "Thanks, Boss," he said as they both stood. "I needed that."

Gibbs cell rang. "Yeah, Gibbs."

_"Boss,"_ McGee spoke on the other line, _"Baltimore PD just called. Said they just began an investigation into a discrepancy in their morgue."_ Gibbs' smile faded...

* * *

Alright, my faithful followers! It's high time I go to bed BEFORE 5am for a change. Hope this chapter can hold you over till tomorrow nite :)


	10. Chapter 10

_ ***All the blood had drained from Tony's face when he felt the cold barrel of a gun at the back of his head...***_

_*~*~*_

"Did you find Tony?" McGee asked when his boss returned to the bullpen empty handed.

"Yeah. He's on his way home. Takin' the rest of the day off," he said as he sat down at his desk. "I take it Baltimore PD didn't call back with anymore information?"

"No, Boss," McGee said. "Just that there was some kinda duty roster mix-up and the paperwork had been misplaced. But they said they'd get back to you as soon as they got a hold of their M.E."

Ziva stepped off of the elevator and made her way to the bullpen towards Gibbs, "Ducky wanted me to tell you to allow him to be the one to tell Tony about Mr. Dinozzo's will," she told him. Gibbs nodded. She sat down at her desk. The bullpen was quiet, aside from the office noises coming from other areas of the room. Gibbs tapped the eraser end of a pencil repeatedly on his desk, watching the phone. McGee rolled his mouse-wheel absentmindedly as he looked at nothing in particular on his screen. Ziva's elbows were propped on the desk and she nervously chewed on one of her thumbnails.

Then McGee's brow furrowed and he sat up and began typing something in on his computer. Ziva and Gibbs' attention turned to him, if for no other reason, because they'd had nothing else to occupy them.

"Heh," McGee half-smiled with what seemed to be relief. Then he noticed his colleagues' attention. "I was, uh...thinking about what Abdul had said." They gave him a questioning look. "You know, about Hastings telling him to meet him back at the hotel in Reno. So I looked up the check-in roster for the passenger list on the flight. His alias name never boarded the plane."

"Fornell already covered that, McGee," Gibbs said. "He had men stationed throughout the airport and all other Reno-bound flights up until the news reported him being found dead."

"Right...w-well," Tim continued, "Since then, there's been no booked flights out to Reno using his alias. So..."

"Abdul was obviously lying," Gibbs said. "He's as sick as Hastings." But Gibbs understood Tim's need to double check, and he looked back down to the phone and resumed tapping the pencil. His cell rang, and though he hadn't physically jumped, the sudden ringing had startled him.

"Gibbs," he said as he answered, then after a moment, ended the call and stood. "McGee," he motioned for him to come sit at his desk. "Abby's got something-"

"Got it, Boss...if they call, I'll call you."

* * *

"What do ya got, Abs?" Gibbs asked as he walked into the lab and to Abby's side.

"A theory," she said, squinting at him. He cocked his head in question. "I sensed something 'off' about the bullets found at the crime scene in Reno..."

"You _sensed_?"

"Yeah, Gibbs. Like...a gut feeling." He smirked at that. "So I took a second look and noticed something hinky," she pulled up a photo of the evidence in question. "When a bullet heats up, it swells slightly, and whatever it hits, like a wall or a body, will get stuck in the microscopic grooves of the metal as it cools. _These_ bullets have blood _on_ them, but the grooves are filled with gypsum plaster and paper..."

"Drywall," he concluded.

"Right."

"What does that mean, exactly?"

"It means...these bullets were fired into a wall then wiped clean after they cooled. The blood was planted on them _after_ they were fired...Which would imply that someone was trying to set him up. But they would've been wasting their time...Abdul confessed. So all this tells us is someone else was there; he had an accomplice."

"Or Abdul policed his brass," Gibbs said, "And someone wanted to make sure he got picked up."

"Yeah!" she said, excitedly. "And that person called him, impersonating Hastings to draw him back to the scene to ensure he'd be caught." Gibbs felt a rush of relief, suddenly.

"That's really good work, Abs," he said, kissing her cheek, lingering a little longer then usual. She smiled, big, and blushed.

* * *

McGee stood up from Gibbs' desk when he saw him walk back into the bullpen. "No call, Boss," he said as he sat at his own desk. Gibbs nodded.

"What did Abby have to say?" Ziva asked when she saw the relaxed look on his face.

"That Abdul never spoke to Hastings," he said. "He was being set-up to be caught." Ziva mimicked his grin, relieved as well. They looked over at McGee who had just retrieved his laptop from his bag and opened it on his desk, turning it on. "What're you doin', McGee?"

"I just remembered..." he said, typing on the keyboard, "That I'd been tracking Hastings' cell while I was in the hospital." Gibbs and Ziva walked into view of his laptop, standing on either side of his chair and leaning down to view what he was doing. "Abdul would've had to be pretty convinced it was Hastings, to return to the scene of the crime. Whoever called him must've taken it off Hastings' body before he was discovered."

"Which means we could find another one of these bastards," Gibbs said.

"Last call was made this morning to a number in Abdul's name," he said. "From Baltimore...which means he could still be there."

"Who did he call before that?" Ziva asked.

"Uh..." he paused as he typed, "Another number with a Nevada area code"

"Could be whoever he ordered to set up Abdul," Ziva suggested.

"I'll call the Reno PD and give them the number. Maybe they can track it from there," McGee suggested. Gibbs nodded, but his eyes were elsewhere in thought. Then Director Vance came around the corner into his view. He approached them, opening his mouth to ask a question, but Gibbs' desk phone rang and his mouth closed to allow Gibbs to answer it.

Gibbs made his way to the phone, looking briefly at Vance before picking it up. "Gibbs."

_"Agent Gibbs, I'm sorry it took so long to get back to you. We've been going through some issues with our M.E.s not showing up. We just got sent a replacement a few days ago; ya know, the morning we found Hastings' body. The guy hasn't showed back up since." _Gibbs squinted._ "Anyway, I just faxed the autopsy report to you. Should be there any second."_

The fax machine beeped just then and started receiving the fax. "Yeah, it's coming through now," Gibbs said, walking to the machine and watching it print out. "You ever hear from your old M.E.. since he left?"

_"Not so much as a phone call," _he replied. Gibbs pulled the report from the fax and looked at the photo of the body.

"You might wanna send someone to the guy's house," he told the officer.

_"Why's that?"_

"Cause the guy in your autopsy report...isn't our guy," he hung up the phone and dialed Tony's number.

"What's going on, Gibbs?" Vance asked. Gibbs handed Vance the fax.

The line rang three times and went to voice mail. Gibbs hung up and pulled his gun and badge from his desk drawer. Ziva and McGee mimicked his actions.

"Boss?" McGee questioned what just happened.

"Hastings isn't dead," Gibbs replied, heading out of the bullpen toward the elevator. They followed him.

"Where are we going?" Tim asked.

"Tony's not answering his phone..."

Vance looked down at the fax paper with Roger Hastings' name on it. But the photo wasn't anyone he'd ever seen before...

* * *

Tony sat back in his massage chair and popped the top off a cold bottle of beer, closing his eyes as he took a long drink from it. But as he pulled the bottle from his lips, he sensed a presence in the room. He started to turn, but was stopped when he felt the cold barrel of a gun on the back of his head.

"Agent Dinozzo...what did you do with my money?"

***_The blood drained from his face at the familiar voice...Hastings was back...***_

* * *

_AAAAAAAAllllllright! _I've gotta go to bed early tonight, so that's all she wrote for tonight... hope this was a good fix to hold u over until I get done with anti-valentines day. Hahaha! Just kidding tho...I'll be going to brunch with friends and fam—should be back home to write by afternoon 3


	11. Chapter 11

***As I began writing this chapter, I realized...I have no idea where Tony is living right now (only that he sleeps in a massage chair lol). And I couldn't find any evidence on the internet to help me figure that out. So...I am writing under the assumption...or rather I've created in my mind, an apartment for him...if you know something I dont, please fill me in and I'll be happy to rewrite it to fit!***

**holy geez—i just proof-read and found a bagillion errors—and I apologize! Ive been sleepy. Im gonna attempt to replace the chapter—not sure how to do it---but if ur reading this, that means I was successful!**

"You're supposed to be dead," Hastings said to Tony as he duct taped his arms and mid-section to the chair.

"Could say the same about you," Tony replied coldly.

"Heh," the man snorted. "You still have very little faith in my abilities to plan," he leaned against the wall to talk to him. "When I went to the bank and saw there'd been an error in transition, I knew I'd need more time...and I needed to work fast because you and your team would soon attempt to be hot on my trail. So one of my men...volunteered...to cover for me by being injected with the nerve agent."

"Volunteered," Tony grinned, "That's a funny way to put it."

"He took one for the team, Junior." Tony's nostrils flared as he cringed at Hastings' use of his name. "I had one of my men take over a position in Baltimore's medical examiner's office."

"How coincidental that a job just happened to open up."

"Nothing is coincidental," he grinned. "Anyway, I think you get the picture."

"Speaking of your goons, where the hell are they now?" he scanned the room.

"They're here when I need them," Hastings replied. He picked up a black watch-box sized device with a red button on the top of it.

"What's that?" Tony asked. "Are you about to offer me a million dollars to push that button?" Hastings' cocked his head and raised a brow. "Like the movie The Box...directed by Richard Kelly...starred Cameron Diaz and James Marsden... it was actually a remake from an old Twilight Zone episode..."

"I'm familiar with the movie...but this is not an offer you're going to enjoy."

"I didn't think so..."

"When you didn't show up here last night, I took the liberty of rewiring your massage chair," he pushed the button on the device and the was a snapping sound in the chair, followed by what felt like several stings spread out over his back and he flinched for a moment.

"What the hell is that?" Tony said, noticeably pissed.

"I modified it a bit as well," he replied. "What you feel now are conductive needles, if you will...each of them are wired into the electrical system in your chair, in which I took the liberty of removing any surge protective devices..." Tony began to panic.

"Your money is gone, Hastings," he explained. "Got repossessed by the IRS." Suddenly, he could feel a hot, numbing tingling pain shoot through him and the breath was knocked out of him.

"That's not the answer I was looking for," he said as his thumb released the button. Tony felt his body relax and he let out a laugh.

"Well, that's the only answer I've got. You know the old saying, 'you can't squeeze blood from a stone'?"

"Maybe not from a stone...but I'm sure if I squeezed hard enough, I could get it from you..."

* * *

Gibbs screeched around the corner towards Tony's apartment, McGee holding desperately onto the handle on the door to counteract the movement. Ziva looked at Gibbs' as she dialed Tony's number again, and they all heard a patterned vibration coming from inside the car.

"Where's that coming from?" Gibbs asked, glancing around himself and back to the road. McGee felt under the seats and Ziva looked around hers.

"Got it," she yelled as she reached down between the seat and her door and pulled out a cell phone. "It is Tony's. Must have fallen out on the way to work."

"Well, that explains why he's not answering," Gibbs said as he pulled up in front of the apartment. "But just in case," he pulled out his weapon and they followed him up to the door.

When he reached the door he held his hand up for the other two to hold still as he listened. At first he heard nothing, and he reached slowly toward the knob. Then, above them, the light over the door began to flicker, and they all heard a straining grunt coming from inside. Ziva shared a troubled glance with Gibbs before he backed up and kicked the door in. They rushed in, pointing their weapons as they searched the apartment.

McGee found them first. He stood there, aiming his gun at Hastings. Gibbs and Ziva came up on either side of him and saw what he saw. "Drop your weapons, or he dies," Hastings said with his gun to Tony's head again.

Ziva slowly lowered her weapon to the floor, as did the others. She met Tony's eyes as she stood back up slowly. His jaw was clenched and he breathed heavily through his nose.

"Go sit in the corner," Hastings told them, motioning to the wall opposite where he was standing, "I'm going to put my gun away," he said as they sat. "But if you try anything stupid, your colleague will suffer a great deal of pain, which I can deliver at the push of a button," he held up the box remote.

"You have modified his chair with an electrical device," Ziva concluded from the light flicker they'd seen in the hall, and the familiar device in his hand. Hastings looked at her as the corner of his mouth turned up.

"It seems we may have mutual friends," he said. Gibbs looked at her.

"They are not my friends," she replied, "But I am familiar with their abilities."

"Then you are aware of the danger this man is in," he said and looked back at Tony. "Perhaps your friends know where I can find what I'm looking for."

"They know I don't have it," he replied, flatly.

"And I find it hard to believe you would simply throw away that much money!" he yelled as he pressed the button. They watched in horror as Tony's body stiffened; his face taught and red as the waves coursed through him.

"Stop!" Gibbs yelled. "You want your money, I can get it for you!" Hastings pulled his thumb from the button and Tony's head fell forward as his breath returned to him. After a moment, he spit blood onto his lap. He had bitten down, hard on his tongue.

"How?" Hastings asked Gibbs.

"I can make a phone call," he explained. "Tony's telling you the truth; the money is gone. But I can call the director of NCIS and he can make it happen." Hastings looked away, considering his words.

"Tell him to call the IRS and reverse the transaction," he said. "Then I want him to put it in a suitcase, and send it here with one of my men you have in your custody."

"Abdul," Gibbs concluded. So _that _had been his plan...

"Will that be a problem?" Hastings hovered his thumb over the button.

"Let me make the call," Gibbs responded. Hastings looked into his eyes for a long moment, then handed him his phone.

Gibbs dialed and held the phone to his ear as he looked at Tony who had lifted his head to look at him. Apology was painted on his agent's face.

_"This is Director Vance,"_ he heard Vance answer the unfamiliar number.

"It's Gibbs. I need you to make a phone call..."

* * *

Ducky pulled up to Tony's apartment in his Morgan and cut off the engine. He noticed Jethro's car parked nearby his and became suspicious. He had wanted to tell Tony about his father himself.

He looked in the passenger seat beside him at the urn that contained Sr.'s ashes, then picked up his phone and dialed Gibbs' number...

* * *

Hastings had taken over the call to the director and was speaking with him when Gibbs felt his phone vibrate at his side. He glanced at Hastings right as the man had turned away from them, and then glanced down at the phone to see that the doctor was calling him. He hit the 'end call' button, then casually opened a new text and glanced back to make sure Hastings was still looking away. He inconspicuously typed a short message and hit send before casually moving his hand back to his knees...

* * *

Ducky had been in the middle of leaving a message when he heard the tone that he'd received a text. He pulled the phone from his ear and saw it was from Gibbs. He opened the text, and all aggravation left his face. "Call Vance?" he questioned the text aloud.

He closed the text and dialed the director's number.

* * *

"What did you just do?" Hastings asked as he ended the call and turned to Gibbs.

"What do you mean?" Gibbs asked, casually.

"When I was on the phone, you did something on your phone. Hand it to me."

"I was just dismissing a call," Gibbs defended. Hastings turned a small dial on the box remote, then looked back at Gibbs.

"I just turned the milliamps up to five hundred," Hastings said. "Do you know what that means?"

"That you can kill Tony with a push of that button," Tim answered for him, his face nervously looking between Tony and Hastings.

"Very good, Agent McGee," Hastings said. "But I wasn't asking you." He pulled the young agent to his feet and forced him to stand next to Tony.

With her leg concealed behind Gibbs, Ziva reached down to her ankle and pulled a combat knife she had in a holster there, hiding it under the sleeve at her wrist. Looking back at their captor, she noticed him pull out another small device, putting it in Tim's hand, placing his thumb over a small red button.

"Since you seem unable to hold your tongue to questions that aren't directed at you, perhaps you can concentrate on this. It's directly connected to the trigger of the flow of electricity in the chair. If you let go of the button, even for a second, you'll kill Agent Dinozzo."

McGee's eyes became wide as he placed his other thumb on top of the one on the button, making sure he wouldn't let it go. He looked up at Gibbs in panic, then over at Tony at his side.

"Don't worry, Probie," Tony said, weakly, "I have faith in you."

"Now back to the phone," Hastings said to Gibbs, "Give it to me."

At that moment, Ziva pulled back her arm, her knife sliding into her hand, and threw it, hitting Hastings directly between the eyes. His body staggered backwards as the box remote dropped from his lifeless hand, and he fell into McGee, knocking the agent off his feet and back into the desk behind him. Gibbs watched, as the room seemed to succumb into slow-motion, as the device in Tim's hand slipped out and slid across the floor...

"No!" Ziva screamed, and suddenly time shifted back in full speed as they saw Tony's body stiffen again, his legs jolting out in front of him. It was maybe five seconds before it stopped, and they noticed McGee near the wall socket, holding the plug he'd just yanked out.

Tony's body was still...unmoving. "Tony?" Gibbs called as he stood and rushed to his agent. He pulled out his knife and cut him free from the duct tape. Tony fell limp from the chair onto Gibbs, and that's when he saw the scattered burned circles on his back, glancing up at the source of them protruding from the backrest of the chair.

Gibbs gently turned and laid Tony down on the floor. He leaned down, placing his ear on Tony's chest. "McGee, call an ambulance!" he yelled. "Ziva, Ducky's outside...go get him!" He placed his fists on Tony's chest and began compressions, looking at his open, lifeless eyes...

~~*-++

"Ducky!" Ziva yelled as she ran outside and saw him in his car. He opened the door and stood when he saw the panicked look on the girl's face. "Ducky, Tony's been electrocuted! Gibbs is doing CPR..."

"Oh dear," he quickly went to the trunk of the car and opened it, retrieving his medical bag and a plastic box. "We must hurry, Ziva!" He shut the trunk and they both quickly ran back toward the building.

~~*-++

McGee was on the phone shouting to the operator. The only thing Gibbs really heard was how McGee's voice cracked when he told them they had an agent down. Then he was in front of him on the other side of Tony, kneeling. "This is my fault," he said, and Gibbs looked at him as he continued the compressions. "The button just...slipped right out of my hand..."

"Jethro..." Gibbs turned as he heard Ducky come in the door. "Open his shirt," he ordered. Gibbs ripped open the dress shirt; the buttons popping off and spilling on the floor on either side of him. Then he moved aside and let Ducky go to work.

The doctor opened the small, plastic box and pulled out a plastic-wrapped item.

"What is that, Duck?" Gibbs asked.

"It's a portable defibrillator," he explained as he handed the bag over to McGee to open for him and felt Tony's pulse. "As I suspected, the shock put him in ventricular fibrillation." Tim handed him the sticky contact pads and Ducky quickly placed them on Tony's chest and turned on the machine. "It'll detect the erratic heart rhythm and create a shock which, hopefully, will successfully fix the problem."

The machine beeped and they watched as Tony's body jumped slightly. Gibbs looked at Ducky. "No change," Ducky told him as the machine beeped again. Tony's body jumped again, with no result. Gibbs stomach churned... Tears streamed down Ziva's face as she knelt at Tony's feet, and his body jumped a third time.

Silent fear filled the room...a mutual feeling of dread consumed them all. It seemed as though the memories that Tony had created within the group were flashing before their eyes. Every time he'd made Ziva laugh...every instance where he'd made Tim feel like an essential part of the team...every moment he'd made Gibbs proud, even if he didn't say so...they could never replace Tony. Never.

Suddenly, Gibbs saw Tony's eyes drift closed and his agent gasped in a huge breath of air.

And it was if they all breathed with him in relief as Ducky removed the machine. Ziva moved to his side next to McGee and took his hand. Ducky was checking his pulse at his wrist and Gibbs put his hand on Tony's shoulder, waiting for word from Ducky and some kind of response from his agent.

"One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest...1975...Jack Nicholson..." Tony said, catching his breath. He opened his eyes, looking around at his relieved colleagues. Gibbs and Ducky were smiling in response to Tony's characteristic movie reference...to them, it meant that he was going to be okay. "Ziva..." Tony said when he saw her. "Why are you crying?" All eyes went to her as she attempted to remove the evidence from her face with her free hand. She laughed.

"Because I thought we had lost you," she said.

"You saved me," he reassured her. She laughed again through her tears.

"Then, we are even." He smiled at her words and looked around at the others as he lifted his arm from Ducky's grasp and reached up to his head.

"Is my hair sticking up?" he asked. Gibbs lifted his hand, in perfect position to smack him, but then held up a finger.

"Don't...let that happen...ever again, Dinozzo."

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_

"I still don't believe you checked yourself out already," McGee said to Tony who was hard at work on his report at his desk.

"Fifteen percent of hospitalized electrical shock victims die from infection, McNaggy," he said. "Infections they get _in_ the hospital...did I emphasis that enough?" McGee looked back at his computer screen, unconvinced. The guilt still ate at him from what had happened.

"I am at least glad that you stayed overnight," Ziva said.

"That was delusion on my part," Tony responded. "If I'd been in my right mind, I would've never let them take me there in the first place."

"But you weren't, Dinozzo," Gibbs said as he entered the bullpen. "What're you doin' here?" he stopped in front of his desk.

"Just finishing up my report, Boss," he said.

"You could've done that from home."

"Yeah..." he said and looked down. "I'm...kinda thinkin' about moving." Gibbs squinted for a moment, understanding his comment, and walked toward his own desk.

"My couch is more comfortable then your chair," he said.

"Actually," Ziva held up her hand for a moment and they all looked over at her, "I burned...the chair," she explained, followed by momentary silence. "I- took it outside...before setting it on fire, of course." Gibbs smirked and looked down at something on his desk.

"Boss, did you just offer me to stay on your couch again?" Tony asked.

"Unless you wanna stay with McGee," he said. Tony looked at McGee, making a face as he recalled the incessant snoring.

"Or," he said, with a devious smile, "Ziva could let me stay at _her_ place..." Ziva replied to his boldness with a devious grin of her own.

"You think that because you nearly died, I will have some kind of sympathy for your situation?"

"I was kinda hoping," he shot back. Then he looked over at Gibbs from the corner of his eye. "Not that I...don't enjoy sleeping on your couch, Boss...or for that matter, I haven't declined..."

"Well, I think it's only fair that we get joint custody," Ziva said to Gibbs, with an exaggerated seriousness on her face.

"You mean joint Tony-sitting," Gibbs corrected.

"It's settled then," she turned to Tony. "We will alternate days until you can find your new bassinet." Tony made a confused face and cocked his head for a moment.

"Oh...you mean _crib,_" he corrected.

"They are both a place in which a baby sleeps, no?" she raised her hands. "Someday I will understand," she sighed. "Right now it seems as if some neurological dysfunction would need to occur before I get to that point." Gibbs smirked out of their view.

"This is gonna be so fun," Tony said facing McGee in his chair. "It'll be like The Parent Trap..." he looked up and to the side for a moment in thought, "Except I don't have a twin...and mom and dad are definitely not getting together..."

"It's not really like The Parent Trap at all," McGee said.

"No, it's not, Probie," Tony turned back toward Ziva. "But speaking of parents," he said in a much softer voice, and Gibbs slowly looked back up at his agent. "Ducky...showed me my dad's will. Said he wanted his ashes scattered at sea," he laughed, "Which only makes sense because it'll ensure the one consistent thing about him: he'll always be on the move..." there were a few moments of silence. "Anyway," he smiled and looked back up at them, "I was wondering if...maybe you all could go with me. Dad didn't really have many friends, and family is...well, kinda running pretty thin. Not that any of them would wanna come anyway..."

"Yeah, we'll go with you," Gibbs answered for them.

"Really? Even you, Probie?" he turned to McGee.

"'Course, Tony," he answered. Tony turned to Ziva. She grinned at him.

"I...think I wanna take you all to lunch," Tony offered with a smile. "You hungry, Boss?"

"I guess I could go for a free meal," he said, turning to put away a file. Tony turned to McGee.

"Hey, McGee...you and me...last one to the elevator buys."

"No...no way, Tony," he began to protest but then shot up and took off for the elevator.

"Not fair, Probie!" Tony got up and sprinted to catch up.

McGee got to the elevator. "Ha!" he said, victoriously and turned around. He didn't expect to see Tony hunched over, holding his chest. "Oh—oh geez, Tony..." he moved towards him and Gibbs and Ziva noticed it too, starting towards him. Then suddenly Tony jumped up and ran to the elevator, slamming the button.

"Ha!" he cried. "Classic fake-out!" he turned just as Gibbs stormed up to him and smacked him in the back of the head. Tony immediately regretted the tactic.

"Never...do that again, Tony," he said near anger.

"Sorry, Boss...that was really stupid. I'm sorry." Gibbs turned away from him, rubbing the back of his head. His heart was pounding in his chest. "Please let me still get you lunch," Tony nearly begged. His boss turned back around, taking a deep breath. It wasn't completely Tony's fault he'd gotten so scared.

"Alright," Gibbs said and walked into the elevator as it opened. "But you're still buying. McGee won fair and square."

* * *

"Thanks for waiting for me, this time," Ducky said as he joined them at the table in the cafe."

"No problem, Duck," Tony said. "Booth just opened up anyway."

"How are you doing, Anthony?" he asked. "Did they send enough bandages home with you? It's important to keep an eye on the burns."

"Yeah, I've got a bag full of them," he said. "Kinda hard to see back there, though. Maybe you can help me with that," he grinned at Ziva.

"I can hardly contain my excitement," she replied. Gibbs laughed at this.

"Can I get you all something to drink?" a waiter asked as he approached.

"I'll have an iced tea," Ziva said.

"Just water for me," McGee said.

"Tea for me as well, please," Ducky said.

"Coffee," Gibbs said.

"I'll take water, I guess," Tony said. The waiter nodded and walked away to fetch their drinks. They picked up their menus and looked over the choices.

"Oh good," Ziva said, "They have Philly cheesesteak sandwiches."

"I think I'll have a steak, since Tony's buyin'" Gibbs said, putting down his menu.

"That sounds good to me," McGee said and looked over at Tony. Tony was looking off to the right, at nothing in particular. "What's the matter, Tony?" McGee grinned. "Having second thoughts about offering to buy lunch?" Tony didn't respond. He didn't even flinch.

For a moment, Tim was worried, but then he smiled again, "Come on, Tony, it wasn't funny the first time." Tony still didn't respond. The rest of the party's attention refocused on Tony. Ducky pulled out a small flashlight and began to check Tony's pupil reaction.

"Whoa, Duck," Tony suddenly turned his head from the offending light. "What are you shining that thing in my eyes for?"

"Tony, what were you doing just now?" Ducky asked.

"What do ya mean, Duck? I was looking at my menu like the rest of you," he looked around at the seriousness painted on his colleagues' faces. "What...why are you looking at me like that?"

"You were staring off in the distance," Ziva explained.

"You weren't responding to us," Tim said. Tony seemed confused.

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"I believe you may have just suffered a petit mal seizure," Ducky told him. "Most likely a temporary side effect from the nasty electrical shocks you received."

"Are you kidding me?" Tony smiled, but it quickly faded.

"Should we take him back to the hospital?" Gibbs asked Ducky.

"I'm not sure that would be of much help, Jethro," he said. "Putting him back in the hospital could put him at risk for infection, which could prove much worse."

"Told ya, Probie," Tony said in barely a whisper.

"All of Tony's tests came back normal. The electrocardiogram showed no signs of permanent damage. His CBC came back normal. X-rays and CT scan showed no injuries, and the muscle enzyme test came back negative. Neurological effects can be temporary and taper off with time."

"How much time?" Tony asked.

"That, I cannot specify for you, Tony. We'll only know in time. I must say I'm rather relieved you'll be staying with someone who can monitor you in the meantime."

"Are you all ready to order?" the waiter returned to the table.

Tony folded his arms, "I don't think I'm hungry anymore...you guys go ahead and eat."

"Give us a moment, please," Ducky told the waiter.

"I'm gonna take you home," Gibbs said, and McGee moved out of the booth to let him out.

"No, Boss, I said I'd get lunch."

"You can get it next time," he said, not taking 'no' for an answer.

"I'll come by later and help change your bandages," Ducky said. Tony glanced over at Ziva, his eyes showing signs of sadness and embarrassment as he got up from the booth to follow Gibbs.

"This is all my fault," Tim said, looking down at the table.

"Stop it, McGee," Ziva said. "This is Hastings' fault..."

"At least _you_ got to kill the son of a bitch."

"Which caused you to drop the switch..." Ziva said. "If I had just waited a few moments more..."

"You might not have gotten the chance," McGee said.

"Both of you, please!" Ducky interrupted and they both looked at him. "You are of no help to Tony if you spend your time blaming yourselves for what happened. Now, Tony is going to be going through a lot, emotionally. He'll most likely be faced with depression and feelings of anxiety and possibly the fear of not being fit to do his job..." Ziva and McGee looked at each other. "He'll need friends to help him through this. And the only way that you can do that is to _know_ that he _will_ get better. He has to. He's Tony."

They all sat there, looking down at the table top. The waiter returned, "Are your friends coming back?"

"We just need our check, please," Ziva said. They weren't hungry anymore...

* * *

***Okay, yall! I really hope this can hold you over for another night :) im getting sleepy, though I did want to finish this up today. Should be one...maybe two more chapters to completion! **

**BTW I wanna thank everyone for all the nice reviews up to this point—they are all very encouraging, flattering and give me the inspiration to continue :) 3 hope you all had a great valentines day!***


	12. Chapter 12

"Oooow, Duck!" Tony whined as the doctor pulled the large bandage from his back, the tape tugging aggravatingly at his skin. Ducky snickered.

"Sorry, Anthony," he said, quickly ripping the rest of the bandage off. "If it's any consolation, maybe that will divert the pain from these nasty burns." Gibbs stood behind Doctor Mallard, observing the process. He grimaced at the quarter-sized burns and the bloody spots on the bandage Ducky placed down on the coffee table next to them.

"The burns don't really hurt anymore," Tony told him.

Ducky dipped a white cloth in a bowl of cool water, ringing it out a bit, then began to wipe at the burns. "Geez!" Tony croaked out. "So much for diverted pain."

"My apologies," Ducky said, trying to speed up the process. "But it's important to make sure the burns don't become infected, and cleaning them regularly will decrease that possibility greatly."

"Whatever you say, Duck," he said through clenched teeth, trying not to sound too pathetic in front of Gibbs. "Are you done yet?" Gibbs handed Ducky the dry towel when he reached out for it.

"Almost," he patted dry the area. "All that's left to do is to put some antibiotic cream over the wounds, and bandage you back up." Gibbs concentrated on his friend's administrations until he noticed that Tony was quiet again.

"You still with us, Dinozzo?" he asked, and Tony blinked.

"Just trying to go to my happy place," Tony joked, looking down at the couch cushion in front of him.

"Do I even wanna know where that might be?" Gibbs smirked.

"Probably not, Boss," he said, glancing briefly over at him. "But it's a lot better then the other place that keeps popping up in my mind." He saw Gibbs nod from the corner of his eye. After a few moments he felt Ducky pat him on the shoulder.

"All set, Tony," Ducky stood, putting the old bandage in a small waste basket Gibbs had brought in earlier. He took off his latex gloves and disposed of them as well. Tony pulled his polo back on over his head. "I trust the hospital sent you home with some painkillers?"

"Yeah," Tony said, sitting back down on the couch, now facing the right way. "They're in my bag. Haven't really needed them since the stuff I took at the hospital...till now," he croaked when he attempted to lean back on the couch, only to spring forward again. "Nothing a cold compress and a beer can't handle, though," he stood and headed in the direction of the kitchen. "You mind, Boss?" he asked as he turned to face him, still walking, backward, toward his destination.

"Help yourself, and grab me one while you're in there."

"Well, I'm going to head home," Ducky said, picking up his hat. "If you should need me for anything, do call, Jethro," he said as he glanced toward the agent walking back into the room with two bottles in one hand, and an ice pack in his other. "Try and get some rest, Tony. See you tomorrow."

"Bye, Duck," Tony said as Gibbs grabbed one of the beer bottles, "Thanks again." Ducky nodded and let himself out.

Tony sat down, slinging the ice pack over his shoulder and lowering it as he leaned back to hold it in place, "Ah...much better," he said and twisted open the bottle top on his beer. Gibbs sat in a chair across from the couch and opened his own bottle, kicking his feet up on the coffee table. "So what's the plan for tomorrow, Boss? We going to Reno?" Gibbs looked at his agent, knowing this would be tough.

"You know I can't let you work right now," he said, softly after he took a swig of his drink.

"What? Why? Because Ducky thinks I had some...some kinda seizure? He doesn't even know that for sure."

"But if he's right, and it happens again...I don't wanna risk putting you out there with a gun in your hand. You could end up dead. Could end up getting one of us killed. You know that." Gibbs looked at the disappointment in his agent's eyes, and he wished it didn't have to be this way. But they both knew he was right.

Tony looked down at his beer. "I can't just sit around here all day," he said, looking back up at his boss. "You gotta at least let me come in...help the team somehow. Investigating a crime scene doesn't involve a gun in my hand," he took another swig of his drink, and Gibbs nodded.

"If I find you...running around, chasing suspects, I _will _pull you from the team. And you'll sit here till you're fully recovered." It was Gibbs' turn to drink. Tony though for a moment.

"I can live with that," Tony said. He looked at the half empty bottle in his hand for a moment. "How long, do you think?" Tony asked. Gibbs looked at him for elaboration. "How long do you think...till whatever is going on in here," he pointed to his head, "Goes away?" Gibbs looked at his agent, and couldn't think of how to respond. "I know Ducky says it's not really something you could predict," Tony said, "But...I'd like to have a goal, ya know?"

"Make one," Gibbs suggested. Tony laughed.

"How's twenty-four hours sound to you?" he smirked.

"Sounds like you," Gibbs laughed, then finished his beer.

* * *

"Reno PD called this morning," Vance said to Gibbs in MTAC. "They picked up your guy with the information you sent them." Gibbs nodded, looking at the screen. "What we're looking at here," Vance explained, "Is a direct feed into RPD's tracking database. They're collecting information from the guy they picked up, in hopes to pick up as many of these assholes as possible."

"Is he talking?"

"He's pretty pissed off Hastings isn't able to pay him. So chances are he'll be spilling names left and right for a deal." Gibbs nodded again. They were silent for a moment. "I feel like I've asked this a couple times now...How's Dinozzo doing?" he asked.

"He's working on it," he answered.

"Electrical shock injuries can cause neurological damage."

"Yeah, I know. I'm not taking any chances you wouldn't take," he looked at him.

"Never thought I'd hear that coming from you," Vance replied. Gibbs smirked, looking back at the screen.

"Don't get too comfortable hearing it." Vance smirked at that.

"So what's with the black suits? I saw McGee and Tony...now you."

"That's actually what I came up here to mention. We're gonna be leaving for a couple hours."

* * *

Tony stood with his friends on The Kelly in the middle of the Potomac. There was a light breeze and the boat barely wavered on the water. He opened the urn, stepping up with one foot starboard. He'd said no words...there were none to be said.

As he tipped the urn, the wind took hold of the ashes, swirling them into a smoky snake-like creature before disappearing into the water. It was in that moment that he felt that his father was truly gone.

"Bye, Dad," he whispered. The urn hung loosely in his hand at his right side. He felt someone at his left and his head turned slightly to see Ziva as her hands laid on either side of his left shoulder. She looked at him for a moment before settling her ear against his shoulder to look out at the water he'd just sent his father into.

Somewhere behind him, he heard music start to play. It was score music from The Godfather. He turned and saw Abby with her mp3 player in hand and he smiled, "You know me too well." They turned to port when they heard a loud popping sound.

"We don't have to be back for another hour," Ducky said as he poured Merlot into a champagne glass and handed it to Tony. Gibbs smirked as the doctor continued to hand out the drinks. Abby hugged Tony, giving him a kiss on the cheek, then turning to get her glass.

They stood there in a circle; McGee mimicking the toast that Tony had made not too long ago, "To family," he raised his glass. As they drank, Tony looked around at his friends. He felt warmth, and the inevitable sting of fear that he might be taken away from them...

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_

"Gaaaaah!" Tony squealed as Ziva ripped the bandage from his back.

"Oh, come on, Tony," she said with a devious grin, "Suck it up."

"Easy for you to say," he shifted uncomfortably on the edge of the couch. "You're enjoying this, aren't you..."

"Immensely," she said. But her voice betrayed her attempt at humor as she saw the burns for the first time. "What do I do?" she asked.

"Ducky said to wash it with cool water," he explained. "It'd be so much easier if I could just hit it in the shower," he said louder as she went to the bathroom to retrieve a basin of cool water and a washcloth and towel. "But anything remotely warm burns like hell." She returned with the items and set the basin on the coffee table. "I feel I should warn you," he said in a low voice, "It took everything I had not to cry when Ducky did this..." She smirked at him as she rung the cloth over the basin.

"I will be gentle," she promised. He squeezed his eyes shut and held his breath as she brought the cloth to his back. To his surprise, she _was_ gentle. Even as the soft cloth grazed the burns, it was more soothing then painful. He let his breath out and opened his eyes. "Is this good?" she asked.

"Very," he said in a sigh. "I guess Ducky's just used to working on dead people. No one to complain..." She laughed through her nose as she dipped the cloth in the water again, ringing out the reddened liquid into the basin. She glided the cloth down his back, noting the muscular structure dotted with the offending wounds. She almost felt ashamed when she noticed her heart going just a little faster.

Tony's eyes drifted closed as she glided the cloth down his back a third time. "Ya know," he said softly, "We never really...discussed what happened in the elevator last week." Though she had been unprepared for the subject, she didn't pause in her administrations.

"No, we have not."

"I...guess I just wanted to apologize," he said. This, she was surprised by. "I didn't mean to...ya know...grope you..."

"You have nothing to apologize for," she said as she let the cloth go into the basin and reached for the dry towel beside it. He was almost sad she was finished. She patted the area dry and applied the cream and clean bandage. "There you go," she said, standing and walking away with the basin. He watched her as she walked away.

"Thanks," he yelled.

"There are clean sheets on the bed," she called from the bathroom. "I think you should sleep there," she returned, carrying a pillow and blanket. "That way, I won't have to hear you whine all day at work tomorrow."

"You shouldn't have to sleep on the couch in your own home, Ziva."

"I actually like the couch," she assured him. "Besides, if I leave you in here, you will be up all night watching movies. Which means you will be talking about them all day tomorrow." He made a face at her. "Now, if you don't mind," she said, "It is late, and we need to be up early." He abruptly stood from the couch and made his way to the bedroom. "Let me know if you need anything."

He turned around with a devilish grin on his face, "Well..." he started.

"Goodnight, Tony," she smirked at him and turned to make her place on the couch.

* * *

Ziva was shaken from a dream when he heard noises coming from her bedroom, pulling her gun from under the couch. It took her a moment to remember that Tony was in there. She stood and moved closer to the closed door. Quietly, she put her ear to the cool surface and listened.

"No!" she heard Tony yell and she burst through the door aiming around the room, but no one else was there. She watched her partner's form twisting in the bed and set her gun down on the dresser, moving toward him. She sat down on the side of the bed and turned on the lamp on the side table, turning back to Tony. He suddenly stiffened and let out a familiar cry of pain.

"Tony!" she laid her hands on his shoulders and his eyes popped open.

"No...please stop!" he cried, his breath labored.

"Tony, it's me! It's Ziva," she put her hand on his face and gently tried to coax him from his nightmare. He jolted upright and scrambled back until he hit the headboard. She climbed further onto the bed until she was kneeling in front of him, taking his face in her hands. "Tony?"

His eyes focused on her then, "Ziva?" he searched her eyes.

"You were having a nightmare," she explained. "You are safe now...I promise," her thumbs brushed lightly on his cheeks, attempting to calm him. His hands moved up to hers as his mind began to clear. Then she pulled him into a comforting hug, her cheek resting against his as she stroked the back of his head. His arms fit comfortably around her small form.

"I'm sorry for waking you up," he said quietly.

"Do not apologize," she said, gently pulling away. "You know what Gibbs says." He gave her a half smile. "You should try to get back to sleep."

"I don't wanna have that dream again," he looked down at the bed. She understood this all too well. She reached over to the lamp and turned out the light.

"Come," she helped him to lie down, "I will stay here with you." He could barely make out her face in the darkened room until his head rested on the pillow and the light from the moon made her more clear. "I promise to wake you if you have the dream again."

He watched her as she laid beside him, gently stroking his face until his eyes began to drift closed. And her hand quietly left him and laid gently onto the bed, in between them. Then she felt his hand close over hers. "Thank you," he whispered.

* * *

**Awe...there's a lil post-valentines day treat for you all ;) Will return with more tomorrow! **


	13. Chapter 13

**Ya know what? I'm pretty sure I haven't done this yet for this story...so here's the disclaimer!! I DO NOT OWN NCIS OR ITS CHARACTERS! But the rest of the characters are mine ;)**

* * *

Ziva opened her eyes as the sky barely lit up with the sun. She held perfectly still as she tried to recall how she had gotten into the position she was in now. It didn't take her very long to remember that Tony had begun to stir again in the night...waking her once again when he began talking in his sleep.

She saw the furrowing of his brow and the disturbed look on his face while he slept, and she moved closer to him, snuggling into his chest until she felt his body become calm and his breathing return to normal.

Now, his arm was around her, his fingers tucked slightly between her waist and the mattress under her. His other hand cradled her head, and she couldn't remember if it had been there when she'd curled up to him in the night.

She struggled with what she should do at this point. She knew she should casually pull away and get up and ready for work, waking him to do so as well; possibly throwing in some humorous comment about his oversleeping. But part of her was aching to stay as she was. She was warm and cozy, and enjoyed the aroma that radiated from his bare chest against her forehead.

That part of her won out when she closed her eyes and drifted back to sleep.

*~.~*

Tony opened his eyes as light flooded into the room. He couldn't remember the last time he'd felt so comfortable. But as he began to realize the position he was in, he panicked. His mind raced, thinking of which way Ziva would choose to kill him if she were to wake up right now.

It was bad enough he'd practically humped her in the elevator. Now he was in her bed, practically trapping her against his half-naked body. There was very little hope of moving without waking her. But he attempted to gently pull his hand away from her waist, and she suddenly began to stir. He froze.

But she was still asleep, and rolled over to her other side, freeing his other hand as well. Quickly and stealthily, he rolled off of the bed and tip-toed into the bathroom, turning on the shower and shedding his clothes. This would definitely need to be a cold one...

*~.~*

"Outta bed, sleepyhead..." Ziva's eyes popped open and took a couple of seconds to focus on Tony's big grin as he knelt down beside the bed to look directly at her face.

"What time is it?" she quickly pushed herself up, realizing she'd fallen back asleep.

"Not too late to be early," he said as he stood. She looked him over as she pulled the covers away from her legs and set her feet on the floor.

"You have already showered?"

"Don't worry. I left you plenty of hot water," he headed out of the bedroom. "Got anything to eat?"

"Feel free to look," she said as she began to unbutton her pajama shirt. Tony poked his head back into the bedroom. She looked up at his surprised eyes as he noticed she had begun undressing. "I meant for food, Tony," she made a face at him.

"Right...uh...," he stuttered as he turned away from her. "That- that wasn't intentional." The corner of Ziva's mouth turned up, amused, and she walked into the bathroom.

* * *

"Wow, Tony," McGee said as his partner walked into the bullpen. "This is..." he glanced down at his watch, "Kinda early for you."

"That is because he rode in with me," Ziva said as she walked to her desk after him.

"If I remember correctly, I was up and ready before you even got out of bed," Tony picked.

"You two look well rested," Gibbs said as he came out of nowhere into the bullpen. "I take it Dinozzo didn't keep you up all night talking about Jet Li movies," he said as he fished his gun and badge from his desk drawer.

"Only because he knows I have killed men for lesser reasons," she grinned as Gibbs' smirked at her comment.

"Let's hope there's a better reason for our dead Corporal," he said, and the team quickly grabbed their gear and followed him to the elevator.

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_

"Very Special Agent Anthony Dinozzo," Tony said as he snapped pictures of the broken glass coffee table the dead Marine was lying in the middle of. "Armed with a camera...and nothing else." Ziva laughed through her nose as she aimed her camera at some droplets of blood nearby on the carpet.

"If you are worried about defending yourself, I can show you a few fighting techniques," she offered.

"Somehow, Clark Kent's voice just popped into my head, warning me: no pain, no gain," Tony said as he spotted some glass leading out of the room and moved to take a picture of it.

"Clark Kent?" Ziva questioned.

"You know...Superman," Tony replied.

"This is another one of your super hero movies, yes?" she snapped a picture of a partial bloody shoe print.

"Don't tell me you've never seen Superman," Tony turned to her.

"It surprises me that you are consistently surprised when I have not seen one of your movies."

"They're not _my_ movies, Zee-vah. They belong to the world. And it surprises _me_ that even _you_ haven't seen Superman." They were silent for a moment as they finished up their evaluation of the scene. "I tell you what...I'll take the risk of being smacked down by some Ziva Kung Fu lessons, if you promise to watch Superman with me tomorrow." She smirked.

"Find anything?" Gibbs said as he walked in from interviewing the neighbor who'd found the body.

"Blood spatters on the wall, Boss," Tony said. "Looks like the fight broke out over here. Probably hit in the head with something before falling into the table. Haven't found any signs of the murder weapon..." his sentence tapered off as he noticed something on the floor.

"There is also some blood on the carpet, but it does not appear to be from the same blow," Ziva said. "It would seem he was standing right here before falling."

"Found a tooth," Tony said as he bagged it.

"Sorry I'm late," Ducky said as he walked carefully over to the body. "Mr. Palmer decided not to show up to work today, and I spent a better part of the morning trying to get in touch with him.

"Did you reach him?" Gibbs asked.

"No. But he was complaining of not feeling well yesterday. So I can only assume he's ill and still in bed," he looked over the dead Marine. "It seems this man suffered a massive trauma to the head," he began. "He was hit here," he pointed to the wound on the side of his head, "And the wound seems to be rounded...it could be something like... the top end of a baseball bat," he stuck the thermometer into the Corporal's. "Judging by the liver temperature, I'd say he's only been dead between seven and ten hours," he said and he opened the man's mouth. "Anthony, you said you found a tooth?"

"Yeah, right here," he handed the bag to the doctor. Ducky looked at it then back into the Corporal's mouth.

"This man isn't missing any teeth," he revealed.

"So that could've come from the attacker," Gibbs said, and he saw something from the corner of his eye and looked up at the window. The man he saw standing on the other side of the glass, took off running when Gibbs saw him. "We got a runner!" he shouted as he ran after him. Tony and Ziva quickly shed their cameras and went out the back door to assist in the chase.

"Go that way," Tony directed Ziva and took off in the opposite direction. The suspect turned the corner into Tony's sight, and Tony dove to tackle him to the ground. "I got him!" he called out. The man fought back, trying to get up off the ground.

He took a swing at Tony, but Tony caught his arm and managed to flip him over onto his belly, pulling his arms behind his back. As he slapped cuffs on him, the rest of the team found them. "I didn't do anything!" the man yelled as Tony stood him up.

"Then why'd you run?" Tony asked him.

* * *

"I told you, I was coming to see him," the suspect, whom they discovered was also a Navy Marine, explained in the interrogation room to Gibbs. "When I saw he was dead...I panicked...thought you'd pin it on me."

"Why were you coming to see Corporal Lansworth, Private?" Gibbs asked, calmly. The man remained silent. "You're making it very hard for me to believe your story."

"He was supposed to give me my paycheck," he said, aggravated. Gibbs opened a file and glanced at it for a moment.

"Says here, your checks are issued via mail," he said.

"It wasn't Marine pay, Sir," he said. Gibbs closed the file and leaned on the table.

"What was he paying you for?"

"I can't tell you that, Sir," he said.

"You _will_ tell me, Private," he said, giving him the glare. "Or you'll tell it to a judge when we try you for murder." The Private looked at him.

"I didn't kill him. And you have no evidence to say I did."

"What makes you think that?"

"Because I didn't kill him!" he shouted.

"You fled the crime scene from NCIS agents. I think that's enough to cause suspicion." The man looked down for a moment, thoughts running through his head. Then he looked up at Gibbs.

"If I talk," he started, "I need to know I can trust you, Gunny," he looked at the older Marine. "Corporal Lansworth's family can't know. Can I trust you not to tell them?" Gibbs straightened up and sat back in his chair.

"That all depends on what you tell me," he said. The Marine looked down once more, then back up at Gibbs.

"Lansworth has a seventeen year old daughter," he started. "Last year, when he and his family went to Vegas, she was kidnapped and held for ransom." Gibbs squinted at the information he was being told.

"There's no record of that," he told him.

"No, there's not. But I know it's true...because I was there. Me and about ten other Marines."

"You and ten Marines went on vacation with Lansworth's family?" he asked in disbelief.

"No. We were in Vegas on leave. We'd been planning it for months. Saw the Corporal at a casino and found out we were all staying at the same hotel. He was actually really cool," he said, his eyes began to redden and he looked down at the table top. "He was a real hard-ass on duty, but he was really nice at the casino. Introduced us to his wife and kid. Invited us to join them for dinner," he grinned for a brief moment in the memory, then it quickly faded. "That night, Lansworth came to my room, banging on the door. Said his daughter had been kidnapped," he looked up at Gibbs. "Told him if he went to the police, they'd kill her. He was completely devastated...out of his mind. Didn't know what to do. He came to us for help." Gibbs remained quiet as he waited to hear the rest of the story. "The kidnapper wanted half a million. None of us had anywhere near that much money," he said. "But one of my guys, Aaron Ricks, said he knew a guy in Reno who could help us out." Gibbs flinched and his eyes darted around in front of him.

"Hastings?" he asked.

"Yeah, that's the guy. Creepy as hell," he said.

"He give you the money?"

"Yeah. In exchange for some loyalty," he explained. "He didn't want the money back. Said to keep it as a sign-on bonus. He arranged for some of us to be posted nearby. At the time, I had no idea what we were getting into. But a long time went by where we were just around as bodyguards. Up until a couple weeks ago..."

"What happened?" Gibbs asked when the Marine drifted off in thought.

"Called us up one day, askin' that we find some guy that scammed him out of a few million dollars," he said. Gibbs felt his heart jump to his throat. "So we found him, sent him off in a car with Hastings. We didn't hear from him again for about a week."

"And what'd he say when he called?"

"Said he needed us to plant some evidence in a motel room in Reno. I had no idea at the time what had happened...we were simply told to pick up this guy's .357 and fire a couple rounds...hand them over to another one of his employees in that motel."

"Who's gun?"

"Some Arabic dude that worked for him. Pretty sure I heard someone call him Abdul. I found out later it was to make sure he got picked up for murdering the guy we sent off with Hastings...You gotta believe me when I tell you I had no idea what was going on..."

"I do...but I wanna know what happened to Lansworth. Where's his family? And why were you coming to get paid from him?"

"His wife moved out of state. They were in the process of getting a divorce," he explained. "One of my guys was found dead on the side of the road in Baltimore...The Corporal called me and told me Hastings was gonna give him the money to hand out to us...because he wasn't coming back to Reno." Gibbs looked at him for a long moment.

"I need the names of every one of your men who were going to Lansworth to get paid," he said, sliding a pen and paper to him.

* * *

"Duck said I can quit the bandage routine," Tony said as he sat down on Gibbs' couch. "It's healed up enough to let it breathe."

"That's good," Gibbs said, setting a file down on the coffee table and going to start a fire in the fireplace. "Any more staring contests?"

"No, everything seems to be back to normal," he said leaning forward to glance at the file. "You believe Private Dawson?"

"Story seems to check out," he answered. "Lansworth and his family did fly to Vegas last year. Phone records match up to what he says about his contact from Hastings. And...he has all his teeth," he said as he stood after successfully starting the fire, and made his way to the fridge.

"McGee said he found a few of the Marines that were just deployed."

"Yeah. Vance is arranging an MTAC meeting with the Captain on the USS Essex in the morning. All three men are on board," he returned with a plate of raw steaks and a grill fork.

"They were deployed nearby," Tony said. "What do you think the chances are they were part of the raid at NCIS?"

"It's possible," he said as he forked one of the steaks and held it over the fire. "Medium rare, right?"

"Yeah," Tony laid back on the couch. "So what test do I need to pass before I get my gun back?"

"You planning to need it anytime soon?"

"I hope not...but you never know," he looked at the coffee table. There were a few awkward moments of silence. Gibbs plopped Tony's steak down on another plate then forked his own and stuck it back into the fire.

"We'll go down to the range tomorrow," he said finally. "See how you handle it." Tony knew he meant, how he handled it mentally...but somehow that felt like a punch in the gut, all the same. He picked up his plate and carved into his steak, trying hard not to react to his boss's lack of trust in his abilities...

* * *

**I'm continuing with the next chapter...just wanted to put something up to hold you over till that's ready ;)**


	14. Chapter 14

**So...i can't remember which ep this was, but Gibbs said the name of my city and I became giddy about it. "Roanoke" from Gibbs' mouth sounds sweet...like candeeeh. Hahahaa ;)**

**WARNING!!!** **Part of this chapter includes EXPLICIT sexual content. If you don't like that sorta thing, when you get to hit, click over to the next chapter where the story picks back up :)**

* * *

* * *

"When you said 'tomorrow', I didn't think you meant five in the morning," Tony said as he placed muffs over his ears and picked up his gun. Gibbs smirked. "I woulda went to sleep _before_ three." He fired at the target eight times then set the gun back down and casually removed the muffs before hitting the return button.

The target made its way toward them. "Looks like you do your best shooting when you're tired," Gibbs said when he glanced at the target. Tony looked at it as well, pleased that he'd hit all the places he'd aimed for, dead-on.

Gibbs picked up Tony's gun and handed it to him. "Let's get to work," he said as he turned.

"That's it?" Tony asked, disbelieving.

"Duck said loud noise and flashing light can provoke seizures," he said as the agent caught up to him.

"That's why you had me shoot?" Gibbs turned in front of Tony, stopping him where he stood, and flashed his flashlight on and off in his eyes.

"Gah! What the hell are you doing?" he squinted and tried to dodge the offensive light.

"Trying to save you a trip to the neurologist," he said and discontinued the torture.

"Thanks...I think," he said, uncomfortably pulling his suit coat back down in place. "So did I pass, then?"

"You're still standing," Gibbs answered as he turned to continue out.

* * *

Vance stood in MTAC, relieved when Gibbs walked in. "You're just in time," he told him. "Captain of the USS Essex is on the line," he motioned for the AV officer to put it on screen.

_"Director Vance,"_ the captain said as his image appeared in front of them. _"I was just briefed on the situation there. Owen Lansworth was a friend. I was surprised to hear what happened."_

"Lansworth ever mention Roger Hastings?" Gibbs asked.

_"Not that I recall. That's the guy that raided your office there not long ago, right?"_

"He wasn't alone," Gibbs said. "He had several employees...some of which, we believe, might be on board your ship, Captain."

_"The officers you're implicating are good men, recommended my Lansworth, himself."_

"From what we've heard, they may have been protecting him," Vance told him.

"Corporal Lansworth ever mention anything about his family?" Gibbs asked.

_"I know he's been going through a divorce this past year. Hasn't really been the same guy since his wife left him."_

"He ever mention what happened in Vegas right before they split up?"

_"From what I've always heard, what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas, Agent Gibbs," he snickered. "Listen, you know we just deployed yesterday. If my men were protecting Lansworth, why do you need them transported back there?"_

"Because one of them might know something about the Corporal's death," Vance said. "And they may have been involved in the raid here at NCIS."

_"As I said, Director, these are good men. They're trustworthy and reliable..."_

"A friend of mine once said, 'You can't trust a man whose loyalties have a price'," Gibbs told him and turned to walk out of MTAC...

* * *

Tony stood in Ziva's living room aiming his gun at her. The coffee table had been pushed out of the way so that she could demonstrate how to successfully disarm an assailant, unarmed, in less than three seconds.

"Are you ready?" she asked with a grin.

"Not really," he replied, hesitantly. She reached out, quickly grabbing his forearm with one hand and his elbow with the other, twisting him around violently then jabbing him in the back, causing him to drop the gun. He grunted and she laughed through her nose and let him go. She wasn't expecting him to drop to his knees.

She hadn't hit him hard, "I barely hit you," she said and walked around to the front of him, kneeling when she saw the look on his face. "I hit your back..." she realized. "I am sorry, Tony..." His breathing seemed shaky and his eyes were distant. "Tony?" she reached to his shoulder and his eyes focused on her then, a little confused. "You were having a flashback," she realized. His brow furrowed and he quickly stood. "Perhaps we should continue a different day," she stood and handed him his gun.

"Don't tell Gibbs," he said with pleading eyes.

"Tell him what?" she brushed past him and walked over to the television. "Did you remember to bring the movie?" she asked. He turned around, smirking.

"In my bag," he said as he went to retrieve it.

"I'll make popcorn," she disappeared into the kitchen. Tony popped in the DVD and turned on the TV, then went to the couch with the remote.

"C'mon, Zee, you're missing the previews," he said after a few minutes.

"I don't need to see the previews," she said as she returned with a big bowl of the notorious movie snack-food.

"If you don't watch the previews, you won't know what movie to see next," he said as she sat down and put the bowl between them.

"I said I would watch Superman...not be set up to plan what to do every other night until your lease runs out," she smirked. He made a face at her and pressed the menu button to start the movie. He watched her drop a few pieces of the corn into her mouth.

"Thanks," he said quietly. She turned to him, seeing him give her an appreciative smile, and realized why he was thanking her. She returned his smile and turned back to the movie...

* * *

As Gibbs descended the staircase from MTAC down to the bullpen, he listened to the conversation taking place between his agents.

"It was based on a comic book, Ziva," Tony said.

"I am not talking about the super powers," she said. "I am simply stating that they made a scientific error. When he flew around the earth to turn back time then go save Lois Lane, he also took back the events in which he saved the people on the bus and the train, not to mention the dam which would have ruptured and flooded the city."

"He's Superman, Ziva...I'm sure there's an explanation."

"Yes, well...in any case, you were wrong. No where in the movie did Clark Kent say, 'no pain, no gain'."

"I said Clark Kent said it...not which Superman movie he said it in."

"There are more Superman movies?"

"There are five, actually," McGee chimed in, not looking up from his screen.

"Superman Returns, doesn't count, Probie," he said briefly glancing at McGee then back at Ziva. "The fourth is where he says it."

"So I have to sit through three more of them..."

"I thought you liked the movie?"

"I suppose that it was okay," she caught sight of Gibbs coming down the last set of steps and turned back to her work.

"Okay? The movie is a classic..."

"You got x-ray vision that can tell if our Navy Marines are on their way up here?" Gibbs said as he entered the bullpen.

Tony quickly straightened in front of his computer, "No, Boss...sorry, Boss."

"Well, they are. When they get here, bring them in to interrogation," he picked up a few files and headed back out of the bullpen.

"If you had x-ray vision," McGee said, "I'm sure you wouldn't be using it for the betterment of mankind."

"Au contraire, McWise-guy," he said leaning back in his chair, "I would most definitely be using it for the betterment of mankind..." he pretended to look through Ziva's desk. She made a face at him, but his gaze turned up toward the elevator when the Navy Marine officers walked out; nervousness splashed over each of their faces when they saw him...

* * *

"They were here," Tony said as he, Ziva and McGee stood in observation looking through the mirror at the three suspects. "The moment they walked in, I saw it written all over their faces."

"I saw it, too," Ziva concurred.

"I think that's the guy who shot me," McGee said, and they looked over at him. "The guy on the left...see the tattoo on his neck?" They focused on what he was showing them. "It was mostly covered up at the time, but I noticed it in the surveillance tape when Abby and I were going through them yesterday."

"You should tell Gibbs before he goes in there," Tony said.

"Right..." Tim turned and walked out. A few moments later, they watched Gibbs enter the interrogation room and McGee returned to stand with Tony and Ziva.

*~.~*

Gibbs threw down three files onto the table in front of them. "I know you were with Hastings and his men in this very building during the raid," he said calmly, but didn't sit. "I've got you on tape," They looked up at him, nervously. He pointed at the tattoo. "I know you were protecting your Corporal."

"Sir, then you know we had no choice," the tattooed officer spoke.

"You had a choice not to shoot my agent," he raised his voice. The Private looked away.

"I...didn't mean to shoot him. I panicked."

"And you coulda killed him," he said as he sat down and opened each file, placing one in front of each man. "Your phone records all show calls to and from Corporal Lansworth two days ago. My question is, did you go to pick up your paycheck from him?"

"We didn't go to his house," the man in the middle said. "He met us in D.C. We had a few drinks with him. He paid us there."

"Then you wouldn't mind giving us a DNA sample to verify you were never in his apartment?"

"Look," the third man said, "We didn't even know he was dead until Captain Andrews told us yesterday. We were awaiting deployment the morning he was killed."

"Before you were deployed...there would have been plenty of time to get back to your ship before it left dock." There was a long silence. Then Gibbs spoke again. "Smile," he said. The men glanced at one another in confusion. Gibbs rolled his eyes. "We found a tooth at the crime scene," he explained, "Show me your teeth, Private Smith," Hesitantly, he bore his teeth to the man, all of them in place. "Garrett," the officer took his turn, "Betz." None of them were missing teeth. "Do any of you know any of the other men who were working with Hastings?"

"Private Aaron Ricks," the tattooed Private Garrett answered, his eyes becoming glassy. "He had him killed...over a few cell phones he forgot to leave behind."

"Private First Class Ryan Sheck," Smith said. "Hastings...uh..." the man began to shake, "Hastings made me inject something into Sheck's arm. Told me if I didn't do it, he'd kill my parents," he began to break down. "Ryan started screaming in pain...begged me to shoot him, but I couldn't...I knocked him out with the butt of my gun..."

"Hastings threatened all of us like that," Betz told him. "Craig Dawson didn't show up for deployment...I think he might've gotten knocked off too."

"Dawson's alive," Gibbs said. "Anyone else you can name before someone else ends up with their blood on your hands?" They sat in thought for a moment. "There were eleven of you in Vegas..."

"Oh," Garrett remembered, "There was a group of Marines from town who met up with us at the casino. They didn't stay at the hotel."

"One of them did," Betz spoke up.

"Oh yeah...Tony," Garrett recalled. "Tony LaFaso. The Staff Sergeant...he's the one who told Corporal Lansworth about Hastings. I haven't seen him in a year."

"Was he part of the raid on NCIS?"

"I have no idea," Garrett said. "How you saw us that day, is how we show up to work for Hastings. He said it made it easier not to play favorites..."

"To him, we were a bunch of lemmings," Smith said. "Didn't matter what our faces looked like."

"Hastings was a coward," Gibbs said. "He paid you to do what he couldn't do himself."

"He could've done it himself," Garrett looked up at him. "He just wanted to make sure he had plenty of insurance..." Gibbs cringed inwardly at the word, "...plenty to hold against us if we didn't do what he asked."

"Could the Marines who didn't stay at the hotel have been involved with Hastings?" Gibbs asked the obviously troubled Marine.

"They could have..."

"Can you write down their names for me?" Gibbs slid a paper over to him. Gibbs turned and motioned for someone to come in to book them.

*~.~*

"Stay here, Probie," Tony said as he and Ziva walked out of interrogation to book the Marines.

*~.~*

"Could you do me a favor, Agent Gibbs?" Garrett said as he slid the pen and paper back to him.

"What's that?"

"Could you tell the agent I shot...tell him I'm sorry," his eyes became glassy again and his sniffed. "I deserve whatever punishment they give me. So I'm not just sayin' it to push off the blame," he reached into his pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. "I was holding onto this in case something were to happen to me...ya know...in case Hastings had me killed too," he slid the paper to him. "I wanted to make sure my parents had something to bury me with. But I never wanted the damn money in the first place. I just wanted to help the Corporal..."

Gibbs opened the paper and looked at the check written out to him by Hastings as Tony as Ziva walked in and cuffed them. "You'll tell him I'm sorry?" Garrett asked again as he was walked to the door. Gibbs looked at him, then nodded. When the room was clear, he stood and turned briefly toward the glass, knowing McGee was on the other side, then walked out...

*~.~*

McGee had already heard the apology, but Gibbs came into the observation room as the audio officer left. "I'm not a chump for feeling sorry for the guy, am I?" McGee said, then turned around to face his boss. Gibbs smirked and cocked his head.

"Guy had the guts to seek forgiveness for his sins in front of his fellow Marines," he said. "I think your pity is a brave gesture." McGee smirked and looked down. "Too bad Private Betz didn't have the balls to apologize for giving me my latest scar," he turned to walk out. McGee furrowed his brow and followed him out.

"How'd you figure it was Betz?" McGee asked as Gibbs checked his phone and saw missed calls from both Ducky and Abby.

"Kept avoiding eye contact and glancing down at my chest," he explained as they got on the elevator.

* * *

"Got something for me, Duck?" Gibbs asked as he and McGee walked into the morgue.

"Yes, Jethro," he said. "I take it you were in interrogation when I called...Mr. Lansworth's death was as I'd suspected earlier; blunt force trauma to the head. But my initial guess as to what was used as a murder weapon was slightly off. It wasn't a baseball bat, but rather a golf club."

"There were no golf clubs at the scene," McGee said. Gibbs looked at him. "Uhh...of course, I suppose the killer might've taken them..."

"Or they weren't his clubs," Gibbs said and looked back at Ducky, "Any idea what kind of club we're looking for?"

"A wood club...a Photon Titanium Pro, to be exact." Gibbs raised his brows.

"I didn't know you were an expert on golf clubs, Duck," he said.

"Well," he snickered, "I do know a thing or two about them, Jethro, but I only knew this because, upon shaving the area of his head to get a better look at the area, I noticed the nice little impression it left behind," he pointed to the clearly marked indentations. "My guess is, the club you're looking for has an engraved label..." he looked further down the body. "Oh yes, also, before the Corporal was killed, he got a good swing at whoever his attacker was."

"With the club?" McGee queried.

"Don't be silly, Timothy. How would I know that?"

"I...uh..." he had no reply.

"A swing of his fist, McGee," he said. "Most likely how they lost a tooth..."

*~.~*

"Gibbs!" Abby exclaimed as he walked into the lab with McGee, "I've been calling you. Why weren't you answering your cell?"

"I was in interrogation, Abs. Sound was turned off."

"Oh...well I found something interesting."

"Hinky-interesting, or case-solving interesting?" Gibbs smirked.

"You know I like it when you say 'hinky'," she smiled. "But no, case-solving interesting, definitely." She walked them over to the table. "The tooth that Tony found in Lansworth's house is none other than a mandibular canine. The Internet Journal of Biological Anthropology recorded a study on how you can determine gender from a tooth...more specifically, the mandibular canine. I did some measurements...this tooth," she held up the evidence bag, "Belonged to a woman."

"The _Internet_ Journal?" Gibbs cocked his head.

"Oh...well, I confirmed it when I ran the blood splatter that came from the wall," she went to her computer. "Ran it through CODIS and found a match," she pulled up the information and put it on the big screen. "Janis Lansworth. Corporal Lansworth's wife..."

* * *

"No answer at her house, Boss," McGee said from his desk. "No cell number available."

"Found an address for the daughter," Tony said, "No phone number, but she's local."

"McGee, you keep trying to reach Mrs. Lansworth," he opened his drawer to get his gun and badge. "Ziva...Dinozzo, let's go."

* * *

Gibbs knocked on the door of the apartment and it was almost immediately answered. "Caree Lansworth?" Gibbs asked as he held up his badge. She nodded and stepped out, closing the door behind her. "I'm Agent Gibbs. This is Agents Dinozzo and David. We're here to ask you a couple questions."

"Is this about my dad?" her voice cracked, and they noticed she looked as if she'd be crying.

"Sort of," he answered. She motioned to the patio chairs on the porch and Gibbs took a seat next to Caree's. Ziva and Tony stood, leaning slightly on the rail behind them. "Do you have any idea where your mother might be?"

"My mother is dead," she said. Ziva and Tony shared a glance. "But if you're talking about Janis, no."

"Janis isn't your biological mother," Gibbs deduced.

"Dad married her when I was thirteen. Just a year after my mother died of cancer. I always suspected it was because dad got a lot of money from my mom's life insurance policy. And last year, when she found out we were going broke, she planned a trip for us to go to Vegas...try and win big in the casinos..."

"Plans didn't go very well, I guess," Tony said.

"No...Janis and I got along pretty well after I started going to therapy. This was a couple years ago. My therapist told me a lot of my hatred was being misdirected at her...that I was angry that my mother had died, and I was fishing for excuses to be Janis' enemy. So we started going to sessions together. It was her idea. Then my dad was shipped out for a while. So we grew pretty close. She used to take me on these...really fun shopping sprees," she smiled through her tears, "And at sixteen, that was the best thing ever. But when we went to Vegas last year...dad was downstairs at the casino with some Marines and we were in our hotel room. She told me how broke we were...that all the money was gone. And she had this plan..." she started crying again.

"Janis talked you into faking your own kidnapping," Tony concluded. Caree nodded.

"I didn't understand at first. Daddy was broke...how would he get the money? But she knew he would find a way...he had to. I was his baby."

"So she got the money...then what happened?" Gibbs asked.

"I ended up telling him what happened. He didn't wanna put her in jail...so he just filed for a divorce. I was angry...at both of them. I left...moved in with some friends till I could afford my own place. Last thing I heard, she was living in Miami. But I got a strange phone call," she said as if she'd only just recalled, and she retreated into the house to get her cell phone.

Gibbs glanced up at Tony. He shrugged, "Wasn't listed, Boss. Must be new..."

"It's one of those prepaid phones," she sniffled. "I can't afford to keep minutes on it, but I've had it for years. Dad used to charge minutes for it every month so he could call." She handed the phone to Gibbs and he looked at the number and pulled out his cell to dial it. "When I picked up, no one answered. They were just...breathing into the phone."

"Yeah, where are you located?" Gibbs said after the other line picked up. "Thanks," he ended the call. "It's a motel up the street from here," he told Tony and Ziva. "I need you to come with us," he told Caree.

"Why?" she asked.

"You could be in danger, here."

"Do you think Janis killed my father?" she asked as she followed them to the car.

"We found her DNA at the crime scene," Ziva said.

"Does Janis play golf, by any chance?" Gibbs asked.

"Yeah, my dad taught her...why?"

* * *

Gibbs parked behind a car with a Florida license plate and told Tony to go into the office to find out what room Janis was in. "What if she has a gun?" Caree asked Ziva who was sitting in the back seat with her.

"If she had a gun, it would have been much easier to have shot your father..." she answered, hoping that wasn't too blunt.

"You stay in here, Caree," Gibbs said as Tony made his way out of the office, motioning to the motel door the car was parked in front of. "Lock the doors and get down." He and Ziva met Tony at the door and Tony knocked.

"NCIS!" he yelled. "Open up." He waited a moment, then motioned for his partners to back away so he could kick the door in.

It all happened rather fast...Tony kicked down the door and entered before his partners. And at once, they heard a voice yell to them. "Drop your weapons or he dies!" She was standing there with a gun pointed at Dinozzo's head, her body shielded by the metal door. They had no choice but to comply. "I didn't mean to kill him," she said to Tony, who could see her clearly from inside the room. "But he hit me...and I just...reacted."

"No offense, Ma'am, but...with the gun pointed at my face, I find it difficult to believe that," Tony said calmly.

"What you believe doesn't matter," she said angrily. "I loved him..." she cried, "Everything I did was for him...and I killed him! Nothing I do now matters..." Tony saw her finger move on the trigger, and he was suddenly hit with a recollection of the night before. He reached out with both of hands; one on her wrist, the other on her elbow, and twisted her violently around, then jabbed her in the back, and the gun fell to the floor.

He pulled out his cuffs as Gibbs and Ziva came in. "That was a nice move, Dinozzo," Gibbs said, picking up Janis' weapon after tucking his own away.

"Little somethin' I picked up from the Mossad," he quipped, glancing at Ziva with a smile.

"You are a very fast learner," Ziva grinned at him as she assisted Gibbs in his search of the room.

"Call Caree a cab," Gibbs told her. "I'm sure she doesn't wanna ride back with her."

"Caree's here?" Janis' eyes widened. "I wanna talk to her..."

"That's not gonna happen," Tony said.

"I just want to explain...it was an accident..."

"It wasn't an accident," Gibbs said as he picked up her car keys, "It might not have been premeditated, but it wasn't an accident." He went outside to Janis' car, noticing Ziva had taken Caree to the office to wait for the cab, and opened the trunk. Tony put Janis in the back of the car as Gibbs' gloved hand picked up a bloody golf club from inside the trunk.

As the cab pulled up to the office and Caree was escorted by Ziva to the car, Caree looked at Janis who was looking at her from Gibbs' car. Ziva looked between them both, tears streaming silently down the young girl's face before she turned and sat in the back seat of the cab.

Ziva closed the door after giving the girl a business card, in the case she wanted to talk to them in the future. She walked back toward Gibbs as he leaned against the car. "McGee is on his way with the van," she said as she reached him. He nodded.

"You're teaching Dinozzo Mossad fighting techniques?" Gibbs asked her with a bit of a smirk on his face. She shrugged and leaned back on the car, next to him.

"Nothing dangerous," she admitted. "Certainly nothing much dissimilar to Marine self-defense."

"You saved his life, teaching him that move," he looked at her. She shook her head in modesty. "I'm serious, Ziver," he said. "I think he does a lot better at your place then he does at mine. You should keep him again today...teach him something else."

"You...are trying to ditch him off on me, so that you do not have to listen to anymore Jet Li talk," she raised a brow at her boss. Gibbs smirked and shook his head.

"Nah," he said, standing up off of the car when he noticed the NCIS van pull into the driveway.

"Yes, you are!" she stood as well. "Do you realize how many Superman movies I will be forced to watch?" Gibbs laughed.

"You know I can hear you, right?" Tony yelled from the car as he pulled the keys from the ignition, got out and locked the doors. "What took you so long, Probie?" he diverted the attention to the agent grabbing gear from the back of the van.

"Seven minutes, Tony," he yelled. "It's a five mile drive. I'd say I made pretty good time."

"But you just missed out on the big custody battle."

"Tony," Ziva laughed. "Don't be such a baby in front of the murderer." He made a face at her.

* * *

Tony sat perfectly still on the floor with his eyes closed. His legs were crossed, Indian-style under him and his arms rested on either knee. He peeked open one of his eyes at Ziva who was mimicking his position across from him. They were both in sweatpants and tee shirts in preparation for the training.

"I did not say you could open your eyes," she said and he quickly shut it.

"How did you—never mind. How is this a fighting technique, again?"

"It is a focusing exercise," she explained. "And the point is for you to shut your mouth and concentrate on clearing your mind." He was quiet for a moment.

"How can I clear my mind when I'm concentrating so hard?" he asked. She sighed.

"Just be quiet, Tony...just don't think! I'm sure that will be easy for you." He chose to ignore the comment and closed his eyes again, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly.

After a few minutes, Ziva spoke, "Why did you apologize about what happened in the elevator?"

"Why did you say there was nothing to apologize for?" he retorted, keeping his eyes closed. She sighed again and closed her eyes.

"Because you did nothing wrong," she said finally. "In fact...if I remember correctly, I was the one who started it." He smirked without opening his eyes, but simply picturing her face.

"Why _did_ you kiss me?" he asked, out of pure curiosity.

"Why did you kiss me back?" she retorted, keeping her eyes closed as well.

"Because I'm in love with you..." he said, opening his eyes. Her eyes shot open at his words, and she met his gaze. She searched his eyes for a few moments, seeing fear of uncertainty at her reaction, but pure sincerity.

"You are in love with me?" she almost whispered. He, too, saw the fear of uncertainty matched in her own eyes; Skepticism bestowed upon her from her past...he wanted to take all of that hurt away from her. But he wasn't sure she wanted that from him.

His head nodded, hoping that her response wouldn't be too violent. But she looked down slightly, and just for a moment. Her worried features softened just a bit.

"Then kiss me again," she said, as if to dare him. He watched her for a moment, his gaze darting from her eyes to her lips, then back to her eyes again. Then he moved forward towards her, his legs shifting to a kneeling position. Her eyes followed his lips until they were too close to focus on any longer, and when his mouth reached hers, his hand lightly held the side of her face and her eyes closed.

The kiss was gentle and sweet...but it overwhelmed her senses. She felt a warmth deep in her chest...something that rarely happened in her lifetime. And tears escaped her eyes and ran down her cheeks.

Tony pulled away when he realized what was happening. He looked into her eyes with genuine concern. "Zee? Why are you crying?" he wiped one away with his thumb and she laughed as her hands came up to rid of the streaks.

"Because...I am happy," she smiled. "Because _I_ am in love with you."

Tony swallowed...Of all the things he would've expected her to say, _that_ was not one of them. He was simply amazed, and part of him didn't believe her. "Please tell me you're not saying that out of pity...I don't think I could handle that..."

"Are you calling me a liar?" she raised a brow and pushed him down on his back, and held up her thumb in front of his face. "Because I can kill you right now, with my thumb."

"I wouldn't call you a liar...I was just checking." He grinned right before grasping her thumb and using his elbow to flip her off of him onto her back and pinning her under himself. She gasped at the contact.

"You are a fast learner, Dinozzo," she said, not looking away from his eyes.

"I have a pretty good teacher," he replied.

"_Pretty good_?" she smirked. Then his mouth crushed down upon hers. She freed her wrists from his hands and dig them into his hair as she opened her mouth, hungrily devouring his heated kisses.

His arm traveled her side until he reached her knee and slipped under it, pulling it back up with him as he pressed himself fully against her She gasped when she felt his need for her. "Do you see what you do to me?" he whispered through clenched teeth at her ear. Her stomach fluttered and her breath became labored at its intensity. His mouth trailed kisses on her jawline and down her neck. Her hips arched against him and he groaned.

She grabbed the hand that held her knee and lead it down past her stomach, and he pulled his head up to look at her face as she lead his fingers to the evidence of her arousal. "And do you see what you do to _me_?" she said as she arched her hips again.

Letting out a labored breath, his face went to her shoulder, his teeth biting the skin gently as his fingers dipped into her folds. Her head dipped back at the sensation. "Please, Tony..." she breathed, and his head came up to look a her again. "We are so past foreplay..." He agreed...lowering his mouth to hers again, hungrily. His hand left her folds and snaked around under her hips, pulling her, hard, against him as he pressed down against her once more before grabbing the hem and pulling them down off of her hips.

"Wait..." he said as he pushed himself up to his knees, looking around the room.

"What?" she panicked as she propped herself up. He scrambled over to his bag and the end of the couch and began to dig through it. Then she knew what he was looking for and she stood, removing her sweatpants and underwear, then pulling her tee shirt over her head and unclasping her bra, allowing the straps to fall from her shoulders before adding it to the pile on the floor.

"Ah ha!" he shouted and stood, holding a wrapped condom in his hand like a trophy as he turned to her. His features fell blank when he saw her standing there near him...and she suddenly became self-conscious. Her body was stricken with scars...

_'How could he ever want this?' _she thought.

"You are so beautiful, Ziva," he said moving closer to her, his hand shaking as he reached toward her face. Her eyes were glassy with unshed tears. "Do you even know...how beautiful you are?" She laughed, her tears blinked back, and his hand went into her hair, gently pulling it from its ponytail.

Her hands went to his face and pulled his mouth to hers again, deepening quickly. His arms wrapped around her small form and his hands traveled down to her hips, pulling her against him again. She sighed with need as her hands went to the bottom of Tony's shirt, pulling it up, and they separated for the short moment it took to get it over his head, coming back together again.

When he felt her skin against his, he couldn't help but moan in response. As he walked her backward, his hands grazed up and down her sides and she took the condom from his hand, opening it with her teeth. "Bedroom?" she suggested. But her back hit the cool wall behind her.

"Too far," he said as he kissed her jawline. She laughed through her nose, as the bedroom was merely a few feet away. He laughed with her for a moment. Then he felt her hands tug his pants down a bit, freeing him from their restriction. His face stayed gently at her cheek, awaiting her reaction. Then he felt the palm of her hand glide over the tip then her fingers curled around him, grasping him firmly as she stroked down then up...just once. His breath was shaky in her ear as he tried to maintain his self-control. Then he felt her put the condom on him and his face moved to look at her again.

She was deeply moved by the passion she saw in his eyes and she returned it, wrapping her arms around his neck, giving him the lead. He reached down and picked her up and she instinctively wrapped her legs around his waist. He looked into her eyes as if to receive confirmation once more. She reached down between them and guided him to her...and he pressed forward, fully entering her, both pairs of eyes closing at the sensation. A guttural sound escaped his throat as he felt he contract her muscles around him.

"God...Ziva..." his mouth returned to hers. He pulled out slowly and reentered her and she moaned against his mouth.

"Tony...please..." she breathed as her legs urged him to go faster. He complied, though difficult. She was squeezing him so...and they could no longer keep their mouths together, for fear of not being able to breathe. His forehead pressed fiercely against the wall next to her, trying to maintain control.

When noises began to build from her throat and spill into his ear, he sped up instinctively. "Oh god, Tony..." she breathed.

"Zee...Ziva...I can't," his face tucked next to her ear, "I'm so close...I gotta stop..."

"No! Oh god!" her head threw back and her toes curled behind him, her walls clenched around him and her screams pushed him over the edge with her...

The intensity was so great, he actually saw stars. And when he regained his sense of reality, he realized that standing was becoming a great bit difficult. He tried to gently lower them both to the floor, but he plopped back; Ziva falling on top of him. They both laughed as their foreheads rested against each other.

"We should definitely do this again," Tony said, catching his breath.

"I agree," she said, kissing his nose. "But do you know what time it is?"

"Is it late?" She shook her head.

"It is time for Superman two," the corner of her mouth turned up.

"You don't have to pretend to love my movies, Ziva," he said, brushing her hair behind her ear.

"I happen to like Superman," she said, slowly sitting up. "Besides, what will Gibbs say if we are not discussing it at work when he walks in?" she stood and threw on Tony's tee shirt and walked into the bedroom to grab a fresh pair of panties.

"You're probably right...he'll figure us out for sure," he sat up, slightly worried. "He probably already knows," he squinted. "Ziva!" he yelled, and she hurried back into the room.

"What?"

"Gibbs is behind me, isn't he?" She laughed at him.

"I hope not," she said, walking over to the television. "You're a bit naked." Tony stood, suddenly aware of his condition, and made his way to the bathroom to clean up. Ziva grinned as she thought about what had just transpired between them.

She put the next Superman DVD in the player and went to the kitchen to pour them each a glass of wine.

* * *

**hoo boy that was fun. Scenes that probably won't take the screen on CBS: check! And the next chapter will get back to the story hehehehe**


	15. Chapter 15

**So many wonderful reader's reviews/comments...I wanted to make a note to all of you to thank you from the bottom of my heart for taking the time to make me feel so accepted in my newly-found addiction to NCIS fanfic writing. You supply me with inspirational fuel daily—giving me the motivation I need to continue, and the affirmation of confidence in what I write. Thank you all, so much! **

** Now—I'll shut up with the sappy stuff and get on with the story! :) 3**

* * *

Ziva closed her eyes as the hot soothing water streamed down from the shower head, soaking her hair and running down her shoulders. She turned, allowing the water to stream down the front of her.

As she reached for the shampoo, she smiled, remembering when she woke up that morning...her body had fit nicely to Tony's at whatever point during the movie they had fallen asleep. She was like a blanket over him; her hair draping over his chest, and his chest, in turn, warming her cheek that lay against it.

When she woke, she had given him a kiss on the spot where she'd rested her head. He was still sleeping when she got up to begin her morning ritual of getting ready for work.

She heard Tony come into the bathroom and she peeked her head out from the curtain, "Good morning," she said as he put toothpaste on his toothbrush. He smiled at her reflection in the mirror before it disappeared behind the curtain again. "I'll be done in a few minutes...I'll hurry. We don't want to be late," she told him. Then she felt his arms snake around her waist from behind her.

"We can save time if we just shower together," he said as he kissed her shoulder. She grinned.

"Something tells me it will not save any time at all," she said, turning around in his arms, biting down a bit on her bottom lip before he leaned in to kiss her.

* * *

"If you continue to look at me with that big grin on your face," Ziva said to Tony as they rode up in the elevator, "No one will have a problem figuring us out."

"I can't help it," he said.

"Use your poker face, Tony. Or..." she moved closer to him, "I can assist you."

"Oh really?" his grin turned devilish. "Please do." She reached over to his belly and pinched him, hard. "Ow!" his face fell. "What'd you do that for?"

"To wipe the smile from your face," she grinned as the elevator doors opened and she turned to walk out and towards the bullpen. He followed her, his hand rubbing the place she pinched. "Good morning, Gibbs," she said as she made her way to her desk.

"Morning," he said looking up at the two agents. "How was the next chapter of Superman?"

"I thought it was ridiculously smooshy," she said.

"Mushy," Tony corrected. "You didn't think Superman's sacrifice was romantic?"

"It was foolish," she said, "Giving up his ability to protect the earth from destruction, just so he could be romantically involved with a news reporter."

"He realized that," Tony said, "Got his powers back and wiped Lois Lane's memory of everything that happened between them. But you'd know that if you hadn't fallen asleep in the middle of the movie," he smirked as he sat down at his desk.

"Maybe I wouldn't have dozed off, if the movie was interesting enough to keep me awake," she made a face at him. Gibbs smirked at their argument and looked up as McGee stepped off of the elevator.

"Maybe it wasn't the movie that wasn't interesting," Tony said. "Maybe it's your taste in movies."

"Perhaps your taste in movies is too easily persuaded," she retorted, squinting at his comment.

"Superman Two was a good movie, Ziva," Tim said as he made his way to his desk with his bag.

"Thank you, Probie," Tony glanced at the agent then back to Ziva. "See!"

"I am sorry, Tony, but forgive me if I don't find your, and McGee's, critical acclaim a means to change my opinion," she said, propping her chin on her folded fingers.

"Boss," Tony looked at Gibbs, "Tell Ziva she's wrong."

"I'm gonna have to agree with Ziva," he said, unexpectedly, and the team looked over at him. "Guy gives up his responsibilities to the world for an office romance...it'd never happen," he smirked and picked up his office phone as it rang.

"That happens all the time," Tony argued, turning back to Ziva.

"Office romances happen, yes," she said casually, "But rarely does one give up their position...or their current wife for that matter...in order to secure it."

"In fact," McGee said, joining the conversation again, "I know people who've actually ended relationships so they could concentrate on their career."

"Or got left because work got in the way," Gibbs added as he hung up the phone. They looked at him. "Vance wants us in MTAC," he stood.

* * *

_"We were lead to Hastings' hideout early this morning,"_ said the RPD Commissioner on the big screen. They all stood in line with Gibbs as the man spoke. _"We've had 'round-the-clock officers staking the place out all week. When you gave us the names, we started picking them up. We found Private LaFaso as he broke in to Hastings' place. Found fingerprints from all four men inside the house."_

"Did you get any information out of them?" Gibbs asked.

_"Just that they're all really pissed off about not being paid,"_ he said. _"Thing I needed to talk to you about, was LaFaso...somehow he managed to escape."_ Gibbs squinted in frustration.

"How the hell did he manage that?"

_"We think he had some help," _he told them. _"We're conducting an investigation of our department here. We think Hastings might have had some loyalties on the inside. I'm gonna need some help from an agency we can trust."_

"You asking for our help?" Vance asked.

_"If you can spare your team," _he replied. _"I think their personal expertise in this case would really help us out."_

Gibbs looked at Vance for approval. After a moment, Vance turned back to the screen, "You can have them for seventy-two hours. That should be a sufficient amount of time to straighten things out."

_"Thank you, Director. We'll look forward to your arrival," _he said, then his image disappeared from the screen.

"We going to Reno, Boss?" Tony hoped he wouldn't be left behind.

"Not all of us," he replied, and Tony's heart sank. "McGee, I need you to stay here and help Abby," he said, and Tony perked up again. "RPD doesn't have our technology, and I'm sure we'll be sending a lot of work your way..."

* * *

"Ahhh, Reno," Tony said as they stepped out of the taxi in front of the RPD, "The biggest little city in the world."

"We're not here to go site-seeing, Dinozzo," Gibbs said as they walked up the steps.

"I know, Boss," he said. "So does our hotel have a casino?" he asked.

"We are staying in the same hotel Lansworth and his family stayed in," Ziva said. "Hopefully, LaFaso will show up in the casino again."

"Oh ho ho!" he smiled excitedly. "Stake-out in a casino...my favorite stake-out category."

"Just avoid the second row number four slot-machine," said the familiar voice of Commissioner Wallace as he greeted them walking in the door. "I know at least three officers who lost half their savings on that machine."

"You must be Agent Dinozzo," one of the officers came from around the desk and held his hand out to shake his. Tony nodded and shook.

"This is Lieutenant Erickson," Wallace introduced, "He was one of the officers that investigated the Dinozzo homicide case."

"My condolences," Erickson said. "Glad we could help bring in his killer."

"Thanks," Tony wasn't sure how to respond.

"Where would you like us to start, Commissioner?" Gibbs said, sensing his discomfort.

"I'll take you down to the evidence locker," he said, leading the way.

* * *

"We pulled a lot of prints from Hastings' home," Wallace explained, "That's how we tracked down the Navy Marine officers. But we have at least five other partials our system can't read."

"Send them to Abby," Gibbs told Tony as he handed him the evidence folder.

"We can get you into Hastings' place if you think it'll help."

"Who'd you send to search the place?" Gibbs asked.

"Erickson lead the team. It was him and his partner, Lieutenant Adam Jackson, and a rookie, fresh out of the academy...they been callin' him 'Billy The Kid'," he snickered.

"Why's that?" Tony asked.

"Other then kinda resembling the guy? His name is Bill Kaiser. And everyone gives the rookies a nickname here."

"What was yours?" Tony smirked.

"Asshole," the guy casually answered, "But it didn't stick for long. Shot the guy in the foot," he snickered, and Gibbs smirked. "They all learned my last name real fast after that."

"And you became Commissioner?" Ziva questioned.

"Turns out everyone had been wantin' to shoot the dumbass long before I got here," he laughed. Ziva grinned at him, amused by the story. Wallace smiled maybe a little too long at the Israeli. Tony squinted a glare in his direction

"You trust your Lieutenants?" Gibbs asked, getting back to the main subject.

"Erickson and Jackson have been with this department for six years. They came straight to us from the academy. As long as I've known them, they've been reliable and trustworthy."

"Other then them, has anyone else had access to the house?"

"The guys who picked up LaFaso," he said. "They went in after him."

"We should probably look it over," Gibbs said. "Not to say your trust is misplaced, but my agents have a knack for discovering things you might not have even thought to look for..."

* * *

"Boss, we've been here over an hour and haven't found anything out of place from the report," Tony said."In fact, for the amount of money Hastings supposedly had, this place is a real hole in the ground."

"That would've been the point," Gibbs said. "He was hiding out. Can't really hide in places they'd go looking for." He walked over to a book shelf and started to pull them out, one at a time, thumbing through the pages. Tony started at the other end of the shelf to try and speed up the process.

"You think it was a good idea to send Ziva ahead to the casino before us?" he asked.

"Ziva can take care of herself," Gibbs said, glancing at his agent briefly before grabbing another book. "Wallace is meeting her there, anyway."

"I'm not sure I trust that guy," Tony said as he thumbed through his third book.

"He called us here to help him, Dinozzo," he defended.

"I dunno, Boss," he said, tossing a book down and grabbing another one. "Did you see the way he ogled at Ziva back at the station?" Gibbs looked over at his agent at the comment.

"Why do I got a feeling you and Ziva have been doing more than Mossad fighting lessons?" Tony's heart skipped a beat, but he tried to put on his best poker face as he looked at his boss.

"What would make you think that?" he asked. Gibbs squinted in his direction, trying to read his face. His intention had originally been to distract his agent from worrying so much about his partner. But now he was unsure where to move the conversation, and he turned back to the books in front of him. "You know, don't you..." Tony swallowed.

"I do _now_," he said as he turned back to his agent.

"Please don't fire Ziva, Boss...if you're gonna fire someone, fire me," he said with furrowed a brow.

"I'm not gonna fire Ziva, Dinozzo," he said, turning back to the books. "And I'm not gonna fire you, either." Tony was surprised.

"What about rule number twelve?"

"Rule number twelve is 'never _date_ a co-worker," he said. "Can't really control who ya fall in love with," he thumbed through the book.

"Is it that obvious?" Tony asked, picking up another book.

"No," Gibbs answered truthfully. "And that's how it needs to stay. Vance's rules have different criteria."

"Right..." Tony glanced down at the book. "Thanks," he said. Gibbs was about to reply, but found something in the pages he thumbed through.

He pulled out the few pieces of paper that had been tucked in the pages and quickly thumbed the rest of the book's pages, finding a few more. He put the book down and looked at the papers in his hands.

"What'd you find?" Tony glanced over at the pages.

"Looks like dossiers on you and your father," he began, then flipped to the next few papers, squinting at the next one. "Here's one on Wallace," he said, handing the stack to Tony as he pulled out his cell to call the Commissioner.

Tony looked at the dossiers as he followed Gibbs out of the house. "Wallace," Gibbs said into his phone, "Your dossier was found in Hastings' house along with the Dinozzos'. Watch your back. We're on our way there." They got into the car...

* * *

When they pulled up to the casino, there was a large crowd gathered around the alleyway next to the building and almost no one inside the casino itself. Gibbs and Tony forced their way through the crowd to find Wallace face down surrounded by a pool of blood. Gibbs knelt down beside the man, seeing he was still breathing, and turned him over to assess the damage.

"It wasn't supposed to be this way..." Wallace croaked. He had been shot in the chest and blood was pouring profusely from the hole.

"What wasn't supposed to be this way, Sir?" Gibbs asked him, pressing his hand firmly over the wound in attempt to stop the bleeding.

"He wasn't supposed to shoot me..." he coughed. Gibbs looked up at Tony who was searching through the faces in the crowd.

"Where is Agent David?" Gibbs asked the Commissioner.

"He took her," he spat as blood dripped from his mouth.

"Who?!" Gibbs yelled.

"LaFaso," he coughed again. "I'm the leak in the department," he confessed. "The plan was to get Dinozzo here..." Tony turned to listen to the conversation. "He's convinced this was the only way we'd get paid. Kidnap the girl and split the ransom...we were the only ones left..."

"Where's he going?" Gibbs asked him, hearing ambulance sirens in the distance. The Commissioner coughed up more blood. "Where is he taking her?" Gibbs yelled the question. But the man couldn't answer. His eyes drifted closed. "Wallace!" Gibbs looked up at Tony who's face was clearly marked with anger. He laid Wallace back to the ground as the EMTs rushed into the alley.

Gibbs stood and followed his agent who was pushing his way out of the crowd toward the casino. When he caught sight of him again, he was entering the casino. "Dinozzo!" he called after him but he didn't respond. He ran in after him as Tony pulled out his badge to show the security officer.

"I need to see the surveillance tape," he told the officer.

"NCIS? What the hell kinda cop is that?" the security geek stalled. Tony pulled out his gun.

"The kind that'll kick your ass if my partner dies," he said. Gibbs walked up beside them.

"Whoa, man!" the officer raised his hands up, "I already looked at the tape. There's nothin' on it...dude came in and grabbed the police officer and took him outside. The woman ran after him—started to kick the guy's ass, but he knocked her out and shot the police officer and took off in a white BMW."

"And you did nothing to stop it?" Tony asked him.

"They don't let us have guns, man...it's a liability to the company." Tony looked over at his boss who put his hand on the arm Tony was aiming his gun with. He lowered the weapon and holstered it. "I _have_ seen the guy before, though." They both looked at him. "Used to work for the guy that owned this casino, back when we _were_ carrying guns. He used to live down the street from my brother till his place burned down."

"I need you to give me that address," Gibbs said. Then Tony's cell rang. He looked at the caller ID, glancing up at Gibbs as he put it on speaker.

"Where is she?" he answered.

_"Agent Dinozzo," _said the voice on the other line, _"I don't know how you managed to take out my business partner and get away with our money...but I don't play games, like he did. I play to win."_

"I don't know what Hastings told you," Tony said, "But the money is gone..."

_"See, I don't care...a lot of sweat, blood and tears went into earning that money. Hastings was sloppy. He made a deal with your father without consulting me, and lost it all. He had his turn trying to make things right, and now it's up to me."_

"As much power as you have over these people, why didn't you just rob the casino?" Tony asked. "Why get them all killed pulling stunts like this?"

_"The casino is broke, Agent Dinozzo. And the stunts were Hastings' sick plans. Not mine. Like I said, I don't play games. You have one hour to come up with the money, or she dies," he said. "And I'll send her back to you in pieces."_

"How am I supposed to--" the line cut off before he could finish his sentence...


	16. Chapter 16

**Took a little longer than I thought to get this out...my apologies to the few people I said it'd be out a couple hours ago! I've been distracted by the winter olympics hehe...**

* * *

Tony looked at Gibbs. "How am I supposed to get the money?" he begged for an answer. His boss didn't have one for him. He looked at security guard.

"LaFaso's right," he said. "The casino is broke. I make their deposits. They've got maybe half a million...that's broke for a casino...and definitely no help to you."

Gibbs picked up his cell and dialed. "Abby," he said when the line picked up, "McGee with you?"

_"Yeah, Gibbs, what's up?"_

_ "_I need you to trace a number that just called in to Tony's phone. Tell McGee to get access to the surveillance cameras outside of the casino in the hotel we're staying at and every other camera he can get access to to follow the white BMW LaFaso drove off in. Tell him to call RPD if he has to..."

_"Slow down, Gibbs. What's going on?"_

"I don't have time to explain, Abs, I just need you to do it...And tell McGee to call me when he gets into the system...I need this ASAP, Abs, do you understand?"

_"Yeah...okay. ASAP, I got it. I'll call you..."_ He ended the call and dialed Vance's number. After the first ring, the other line picked up.

"Director...I need you to pull some strings..."

* * *

"What was that about?" McGee asked Abby after she put down the phone.

"Something's wrong..." she began typing on her computer bringing up of tracing program.

"What'd he say?"

"Gibbs wants you to pull surveillance logs from outside the hotel they're staying at and call him when you get in."

"What are we looking for?" he said as he began working on the other computer.

"White BMW and Staff Sergeant LaFaso. He wants you to track where he went."

"Well that means I need to gain access to street surveillance cams. That could take all night."

"He doesn't have all night, McGee!" she looked at him nervously. "He couldn't even tell me what was going on."

"Don't get mad at _me_, Abby. I'm just telling you-"

"Well stop wasting time telling me, and get cracking!"

* * *

Tony fed quarters into the slot machine like a pro, jerking the handle down with each feed. "What are you doing, Dinozzo?" Gibbs asked as he paced the lane awaiting Vance's return call.

"Trying to win three million dollars," he said, feeding another quarter into the machine.

"Isn't that the machine Wallace said to avoid?" he squinted.

"Wallace is a dirty cop," Tony said, flinching as he angrily pulled the handle. "I never liked that asshole." Gibbs stopped pacing and looked down at the floor. Tony had been right...he shouldn't have trusted him.

"We're gonna find her, Tony," he said. Tony's head dropped as he made a sound similar to a laugh. Then he looked over at his boss.

"Got anymore quarters?" he said. "I'm out." Gibbs phone rang.

"Tell me you got something, Abs," he answered.

_"I traced the call," _she said, _"But he made it from the road. Based on the time of the call, McGee figured out what time to look for on the surveillance feed outside of the hotel. Gibbs, was that Ziva that LaFaso put in the trunk?"_

"Yeah, it was. Did he figure out where the car went?"

_"Having a little trouble accessing street cams, Boss," _McGee said as Gibbs realized they had him on speaker. _"But I can tell you he went north. It'd be a lot easier if I had a schematic that showed what vendors have operational cams on the street in front of the hotel. I called RPD but they said their system purged that information from the database. I have a feeling that's not just a coincidence."_

"Would it help if drove up the street and looked?"

_"That could work...I should only need views of crossroads,"_ he said as Gibbs motioned for Tony to come with him to the car. _"Anywhere he could possibly have taken a turn."_ Gibbs started the car as Tony got in and shut the door.

"Okay, McGee...heading north. I see an ATM for Greentree."

_"Okay, give me a second...okay I've got it. Rewinding now...okay I see him. He didn't make a turn. Kept going north."_

"Next street has a hotel on the corner. Triniton."

_"I'm not seeing it in the system, Boss. They must not have a camera on the street." _Gibbs squinted further up the road as he drove.

"Chinese food place called Wong's," he said into the phone.

_"Checking...okay I got it...but I don't see LaFaso's car. Musta taken that last turn, Boss."_

"Which way, McGee?"

_"I-uh...I don't know. But I've got the street name. I should be able to at least access that information from RPD's database and call you when I find something." _Gibbs ended the call and looked over at Tony who was holding onto the sides of his head.

"You okay, Dinozzo?"

"Think the slot-machine gave me a headache," he said as his fingers started making rough circles at his temples. He sighed and put his hands down in his lap. "So what do we do now?" Gibbs looked at the steering wheel.

"Just waiting on Vance to call me back. He's gonna get us the money," he looked back at Tony.

"We're running out of time," he sighed. "We've got maybe thirty minutes left."

"Thirty-five," he corrected. "McGee will figure out where he went."

"And if he doesn't?"

"He will," he squinted at him. "But if he doesn't, Vance will get us the money and we'll get her back."

"What if she's already dead..."

"He wouldn't get rid of his only playing card," he said. Then Tony's phone made an sound indicating he'd received a text. He pulled it out of his pocket and opened the message. The image was like a punch in the gut. His stomach churned and he sucked in a breath in effort to subside the nausea. "What is it?" Gibbs asked. Tony handed him the phone.

The picture was of Ziva...her hands bound in front of her to her feet, and her mouth gagged. She was still in the trunk of the car. Her eyes were open and looking directly into the camera...she was still alive. But he could see the fear in her eyes. Something neither of them were used to seeing from her.

Gibbs picked up his own cell and redialed. The other line picked up immediately.

_"Gibbs, I haven't found him yet," _Tim said.

"McGee, can you zoom in on the BMW enough to get a plate number?"

_"Abby's been working on that," _he said.

_"The angle is crap,"_ Abby said, _"But I think I might have found a shot I can work with. It'll take a few minutes to clear it up, but I'll text you the number when I have it."_

"LaFaso sent Dinozzo a picture message just now. Any way you can trace that?"

_"A text or picture message takes just moments of air time," _Abby explained. _"It's nearly impossible to pick up a pinpoint location. But I could tell you what tower it hit before being sent to Tony's phone. If he left the city or not, that would give a better idea where to look...or rather where not to look."_

"How long is that gonna take?"

_"Bringing it up now...looks like he hasn't left Reno. But there's only one tower actually inside the city, so it doesn't really narrow anything down. I'm actually kinda surprised you both are getting this good of reception." _Gibbs took a breath.

"You call me when you have something," he said to both of them and ended the call. He looked back at Tony who was holding his head again, and turned the car around. "Let's head back to the hotel. Get you something for your head."

* * *

Ziva struggled against the rope that bound her hands. She could feel her wrists rubbing raw, but she would not give up. Her fear was not of her captor...not of being trapped in yet another car trunk...but of never seeing Tony again.

She did not want to die this way...she cried. Against the gag, her sobs were muted. But the tears flowed freely. As she pulled one last time with all her strength, she could feel her skin tearing and the blood dripping beneath the harsh fibers of the rope...

* * *

Tony threw open the car door before the nausea caused him to empty the contents of his stomach on the sidewalk beside where Gibbs had just parked. Gibbs grabbed a bottle of water and made his way around the car to the agent who was still heaving onto the concrete.

"Oh god my head," Tony said as he tried to catch his breath, clinging his head as the pain throbbed.

"Ever have migraines before?" Gibbs asked, handing him the water.

"Never one like this," he took the water, opening it and swishing some around his mouth before spitting it out onto the sidewalk.

"Think you can make it inside?"

"Yeah," he said as he stood and maneuvered his way onto the sidewalk. Gibbs shut the door and stepped up next to Tony as he headed in.

"Got anything for a headache?" Gibbs asked the security guard, who was one of a handful of people left at the casino.

"Might have something in the office. I'll go check," he said and walked out of the room. Tony sat at the bar, setting his head down on the cold surface. Gibbs sat down next to him, putting his phone down on the bar.

"Want me to call Ducky?" Gibbs offered.

"I can worry about my headache after we find Ziva," he mumbled. Gibbs' phone rang and Tony cringed at the noise.

"Gibbs," he answered. Tony listened with his eyes closed. After a moment he heard him speak again. "Thank you," he said and ended the call. "Vance got the okay," he told Tony. "The bank is sending it over right now."

"How much time left, Boss?" he asked, unmoving. Gibbs looked back down at his phone.

"Twenty minutes..."

* * *

"He's not on any of the cameras, Abby," McGee said, frustrated. "How could he just disappear?"

"Think he switched cars?" Abby watched over his shoulder.

"And risk being seen moving Ziva into another car? I don't think so."

"Well unless his car had wings and he flew out of there, what else could he have done?" Abby paced the lab. McGee looked over at her as a thought ran through his head. "What are you thinking, Timmy?" He turned back to the computer and started typing...

* * *

An armored car was parked out front of the casino and two armed guards walked a large duffel bag in and handed it to Gibbs. Tony's phone rang. He put it on speaker as the guards walked out.

"We have the money," Tony said.

_"Go up to the roof of the hotel and wait for me to call you again," _LaFaso said. _"When I call, drop the bag from the roof. Have the security guard drop it into the storm drain across the street, then go back into the casino and lock the doors."_

"What about my partner?" Tony asked.

_"Once I have the money in my hands, I'll text you with her location. If I even get a hunch there's something fishy going on, I will kill her." _The line cut off. Tony looked up at Gibbs. Gibbs looked at the guard.

"You understand what to do?" Gibbs asked him.

"Hell yeah," the guard said. "Job just got a hundred times more interesting."

"Let's head up, Tony," Gibbs said as he headed for the elevator. Tony followed him. "Aspirin help your head any?"

"Not yet," he answered. "Why do you think he wants us to drop it from the roof?" he motioned to the bag.

"Fifteen story fall would bust any homing devices planted in the case," he concluded.

"He knows what he's doing," Tony said.

"Yeah...let's hope he's also a man of his word."

They reached the roof of the hotel, stepping out into the breeze. They approached the edge of the wall and looked over and down into the street. "Time's up," Tony said. Then his phone rang.

_"Drop the bag,"_ the man said. Tony took the bag from Gibbs, held it over the edge and let it go.

"It's done," he told him. "The guard is picking it up now." They heard movement on the other line. "He just dropped it down the drain," Tony said. "Please tell me where she is..." The rustling became louder on the phone as he watched the guard run back into the casino.

Gibbs' phone rang, "Yeah," he answered quietly.

_"Boss, I think he pulled into a parking garage before the street we thought he might've turned on," _McGee sounded through the phone. Gibbs looked up at Tony, not wanting to talk while he was on speaker with LaFaso.

"LaFaso, did you hear me?" Tony asked. More rustling sounded through the speaker. Then he heard Ziva yell, and heard two shots ring out...


	17. Chapter 17

Tony felt something snap inside him... "Ziva?" he squeaked out, and the line went dead. "Ziva..." he yelled, dropping the phone as he fell to his knees.

Gibbs felt his breath leave his body...the sadness dug him like a knife in the gut... But he had a job to do, and he needed to function. He glanced over the edge and down to the street to see if anyone was coming to pick up the money

He put his phone back to his ear. "McGee," his voice cracked, "Call RPD...tell them the deal just ended...to send in their guys and find this sonofabitch." He ended the call and swallowed, looking over at Tony's broken form.

He was on his hands and knees;his forehead pressed firmly against the concrete below them. His breath came in quick bursts through his tears. Gibbs couldn't move his feet, though he wanted to somehow comfort his agent. "Tony..." he said in barely a whisper.

Tony began to move. He sat back on his heels and grabbed his aching head in his hands. His heart was beyond broken...nothing seemed to make sense anymore. Nothing mattered...

Gibbs looked on in complete disbelief as his agent pushed himself up to stand and pulled out his gun, pressing the barrel against his own temple. "Tony!" Gibbs yelled, horrified. Tony looked at him. Gibbs saw the anguish on his face. "Tony, don't do this..."

"I can't...can't live without her..." he said, new tears streaming down his wet face.

"We can get through this," Gibbs inched closer to him. "I know it hurts," he told him, tears trailing down his own face now as he panicked. "But Ziva wouldn't want you to do this."

"Ziva didn't want to die...she..." he backed away from Gibbs and Gibbs paused his approach. "I loved her..." he wept. The sobs shook his body, and the barrel began to waver in its aim.

Gibbs chanced another step towards him, but Tony took a deep breath and willed his sobbing to end, and the look upon his face wasn't of indecision. "I can't stay here without her," he straightened the gun at his temple.

"Tony, no!" he yelled. Tony's brow furrowed at his boss. But then everything seemed to go dark.

Gibbs watched the gun fall from his agent's hand as the color left his face and his eyes rolled back into his head. His body dropped to the concrete beneath him.

At first, Gibbs thought he'd simply not heard the gun fire. But he quickly realized what was happening as he watched Tony seizing before him, and he went to his agent's side, kneeling beside him and rolling him onto his side. He picked up his phone and attempted to dial, but there was no signal.

Panicked, he looked over at the elevator doors before grabbing under Tony's arms and dragging him into it, hitting the level one button before tending to his agent as he continued to seize.

Helplessness washed over him as Tony's body shook uncontrollably. He'd seen seizures before, but this was his agent. It was different. The stabbing feeling in his gut seemed to worsen...still it was better that Tony was sick than dead.

As he felt the elevator move down, he glanced at his phone, waiting for some kind of reception. But the phone began to ring in his hand, and without even thinking, he answered it at put it to his ear, forgetting to speak.

_"Jethro?"_ he heard Ducky speak.

"Duck..." his voice finally obeyed. "We lost Ziva." The man on the other line took a moment of shock before responding. He sensed the pain in his friend's voice.

_"Oh...Jethro, I'm so sorry."_

"Tony's having a seizure...bigger then in the restaurant."

_"Where are you?"_

"In an elevator headed down to the ground floor. Ducky, I don't know what to do..."

_"Call an ambulance. Tell them about the electrical shock he experienced, and that there's a possibility he may have a blood clot in his brain. Was he complaining of a headache before this happened?"_

"He had a migraine. He was throwing up outside earlier...Duck, he was gonna kill himself," his voice cracked.

_"Oh my,"_ this surprised him. _"Confusion before a seizure is common...but I'm not sure what to say to that."_

"I think..." he struggled, "I think I need you here, Duck..." Ducky couldn't remember the last time he'd heard the amount of fear and anguish in his friend's voice as he did right now. In fact, he had never...

_"I'll be on the next flight out, Jethro." _

"Thank you," he barely whispered and ended the call as the elevator opened.

Police cars and ambulances were already swarmed around the front of the casino as he pulled Tony from the elevator into the lobby...

* * *

Abby and McGee sat in the lab, staring at the quiet phone on the desk. They weren't sure what had just happened, but McGee had called RPD as Gibbs had asked. Now they sat there waiting for him to call and fill them in. But something about the way he'd spoken, had them frightened...

"You ever hear Gibbs sound like that before?" Abby looked up at McGee, her eyes glassy with unshed tears. McGee shook his head. "When he said the deal ended...did he mean...Ziva...?" McGee's eyes darted around the air between them. After a moment, he spoke to answer her.

"I don't know what else that coulda meant," he confessed. His eyes dropped back to the phone. Guilt washed over him. "We were too late..."

"No," Abby said. "No, Tim! Vance got them the money. Gibbs and Tony...they did everything they were supposed to do. It doesn't make...any sense," she drew in a shaky breath. McGee was looking at her again.

"These are ruthless people, Abby," he said as his own voice became shaky. "Money is the root of all evil...well this is--living, breathing proof..." Abby threw her arms around him when she saw the tears in his eyes. "He's still out there...and there's nothing we can do to stop him from doing this again."

"Don't give up hope, Timmy," she told him. "We're not throwing in the towel before we put this sick asshole away..."

* * *

Gibbs watched the ambulance pull away after he explained Tony's condition and the EMTs were able to stabilize him. He knew he would have to talk to the police officers, but he took a moment to breathe, sitting down on the curb. His hands slowly went to his face, his palms planting over his eyes as his elbows rested on his knees. Voices swam in his mind playing back like a recording.

_"To family..." Tony had so eloquently put it when they'd raised their glasses together. _

_ "And now...the closest thing I have...to a father...is accusing me..." Ziva had told him in his basement. In his heart, he'd already thought of her as a daughter..._

_ "You killed your brother...to save me?" he'd asked her in the hospital room, and she'd nodded, crying as he pulled her to him._

_ "Y' know, Boss, when I said 'family'...I meant the team." _

_ His family...Tony was right. And they were being torn apart..._

"Gibbs," he heard a familiar voice in the distance beside him. He thought he was hearing things, but he slowly turned his head toward the sound. He squinted at the form that walked toward him like a ghost. He stood, turning his body to face her.

It was Ziva. She was holding a police blanket around her as she walked. "Did you forget that I could take care of myself?" she grinned. He closed the space between them and pulled her into a hug.

"Ziver," he said, tears of joy falling fresh on his face as he kissed her hair. "We thought we lost you."

"You did not," she said as she felt the blanket fall from her. He pulled away and bent down to retrieve it, noticing her wrist.

"You're bleeding," he said as he took her hand and examined it further.

"But I am not dead," she said. She saw his worn face clearly, lit by the street lights.

"What happened?" he asked her.

"I freed myself and crawled into the car through the backseat. Took his gun and shot him before he knew what was happening. I tried to tell you, but the phone went dead." Gibbs motioned for an EMT who was still on the scene. "Where is Tony?" she asked after she glanced around. Gibbs flinched as he hesitated to answer and she sensed it on his face. "Is he hurt?"

"When we heard those gunshots..." he started, "Tony lost it..."

"What happened, Gibbs," she asked again, her eyes beginning to water. He took a deep breath, thinking carefully about how much he should tell her.

"Ducky thinks he may have a blood clot in his brain. When we thought you were dead, he started acting...confused. Said he didn't wanna live anymore." A tear escaped and fell to her cheek, awaiting her boss to continue. "Put his gun to his head..."

"No..." she shook her head, unwilling to accept what she imagined he would say next.

"He didn't get a chance to pull the trigger...he dropped the gun when he went into a grand mal seizure." Somewhat relieved, she was intent on defending Tony's mental state.

"He would not have killed himself," she said as more tears fell.

"I know," he decided to say. "He was confused..." he stepped to her side as the EMT examined her wrist and began working on it.

"He will be okay, yes?" she sniffled as she looked up at him. He nodded, wanting to believe himself...

* * *

Gibbs had called Ducky and told him to cancel his flight when the hospital gave them the go-ahead to transport Tony to Bethesda. Ducky had undoubtedly spread the good news of Ziva's survival to the rest of the team.

Ziva sat next to Gibbs in the back of the plane where Tony laid unconscious in a medical bed. The doctor's told them that he had slipped into a coma, most likely from the blood clot. They gave them high hopes of his recovery once the clot could be removed.

"You should get some sleep," Gibbs told her. "He's not gonna disappear if you close your eyes." She looked at her boss. Her eyes were tired, but she was unconvinced. "When he gets up, he's gonna force you to watch the rest of those Superman movies," he told her. "And he'll give you hell if you fall asleep in the middle of them again." The corner of her mouth turned up at his attempt.

"I cannot sleep in these uncomfortable chairs," she shifted. Gibbs pulled up the armrest between them and stood, plopping a pillow down in his seat.

"Lay down and get some rest," he said. She looked at him in protest. "That's an order, Agent David." She looked at him for a moment, taking note of the seriousness on his face, before she slowly laid herself down on her side on the seat, curling her legs up in front of her. Gibbs put a blanket over her, up to her shoulders and bent down to kiss her head. "G'night, Ziver," he said and made his way to another seat, watching her as her eyes drifted closed.

* * *

Ducky made his way into the bullpen towards Gibbs, pulling off his jacket. Gibbs looked up from his desk when he realized he was there. "Any word, Duck?" he asked.

"The doctors successfully removed the clot without any complications," he explained. "They were able to use a catheter called a Penumbra to get it out, avoiding the possibility of serious side effects that could have been encountered during a craniotomy. They have been giving him a course of anti-coagulants in order to prevent it from happening again. They won't be a permanent medication, but enough to make sure whatever might be left in his system gets dissolved out."

"Any idea when he might wake up?" he asked. Ducky glanced behind him at McGee who was listening intently.

"Perhaps, we should discuss Anthony's prognosis more...privately," he suggested.

"I'll uh...I'll just...go see what Abby's up to," Tim said as he stood and quickly left the bullpen.

"Did Tony, in his confusion, mention...why he didn't want to live anymore?" he said quietly as he pulled up a chair.

"Yeah...it was when he thought we lost Ziva," he answered, not wanting to reveal much more. "Can't really elaborate anymore then that, Duck, but maybe..."

"I think I understand," he said. "The reason I ask...well, Tony's comatose state is no longer related to the clot. Technically, removing it should have had instantaneous results after the anesthesia wore off. But he hasn't come back to us yet. I believe, and I can only make assumptions in this case, that under his current presumption of loss, and the heartbreak he must be experiencing...well...he may not _want_ to wake up." Gibbs wasn't sure how to respond.

"Did you talk to Ziva?" he asked.

"Yes, actually. I told her to try and talk to him. It's widely believed that a comatose patient can hear and comprehend when they're being spoken to," he paused. "I just hope he's willing to listen..."

* * *

_Tony sat on the edge of a dock, the water beneath his feet was dark and calm, matching the sky above him. He was alone. _

_ He had been here for what seemed a lifetime, and the sun never did come up. _

_ He looked down at the only luminescent thing in this world...the glow of his cell phone, containing a picture...the picture LaFaso had sent to him of his Ziva. He didn't think he had anymore tears to shed, but he was wrong..._

_ Then the glow began to get brighter...and he heard her voice. _

_ She was saying his name..._

* * *

Ziva had been thinking hard about what to say to Tony after Ducky had left. But her mind wouldn't focus and she could not longer concentrate. She needed to be closer to him...

She pushed the blanket away from the side of the bed and climbed into it, laying on her side. Her head settled next to his, mere inches away, as she looked at his sleeping profile. Her hand reached up to touch his cheek.

"Tony..." she talked softly in his ear, "I don't know if you can hear me... but I am here, waiting for you." She laid her arm across his chest, closing her eyes and pressing her face gently against as she listened to him breathe and felt the steady beat of his heart.

"Gibbs told me you were going to kill yourself," she said, "Because you thought I was dead. But I was not..." she thought out loud. "What do you think would have happened when I saw you? What could I have done...knowing that it was my fault you were dead..."

"Kinda like Romeo and Juliet, isn't it?" he said. Her eyes shot open and she picked her head up to see his face.

"How long have you been awake?" she smiled, glad that he'd decided to join her.

"Since you called to me...said you were waiting for me," his hand went to her face. "I thought you were gone, Ziva," he said with sad eyes. "I was in a dark place..."

"Do not ever do that again," she scolded. "You are not a coward...and you should not die a coward's death."

"I'm sorry," he said. "I don't even know how I'm alive right now..."

"A blood clot...caused by your electrical shock, ended up saving your life," she said. "Or possibly it intensified the pain you were feeling and made you do something you normally would not have considered."

"I like the second one," he said. "Think Gibbs will buy it?" he smirked, but it quickly faded as he remembered his boss's face on that rooftop.

"I think he will understand..." her eyes shifted between both of his, the uncertainty of his thoughts weighing heavy upon her. Her hand went to her cheek, "Promise me..." she said simply; her eyes piercing his. He understood the vow she wished for him to make. His fingers pulled gently through her hair.

"It won't happen again," he said. "I promise." He felt scratchy fabric rub against his chin and he took her hand, looking at the bandage. "What happened?" the question asked for more than an explanation of her injury.

"LaFaso is dead," she explained. "The money was recovered and returned. It is finally over," she laid her head on his chest. He felt relieved. His arms went around her as he closed his eyes. He felt the rise and fall of her breaths and the beating of her heart...finding solace in it...

* * *

"Ahem..." Ziva was startled from her sleep when she heard the unmistakable sound of Gibbs clearing his throat. She quickly jolted out of the bed and stood beside it, looking at him.

"Gibbs...I was just--"

"I know," he said.

"He knows," Tony said as she looked over at Tony then back to her boss. Gibbs smirked at the redness that flushed her cheeks.

"You might wanna practice some discretion," Gibbs said as he approached the bedside. "Never know who's gonna walk through that door," he handed Ziva a small bag.

"What's this?" she asked.

"Thought you might want something to do while you wait to be discharged," he said. "Just spoke with the nurse. Said you can head home in a couple hours as long as someone's around to keep an eye on you."

"Superman Three?" Ziva pulled the movie out of the bag. Tony grinned.

"Thanks, Boss," Tony said as he looked up at him.

"No popcorn?" Ziva raised a brow, giving a playful toward Gibbs. He smirked and turned around to head out the door.

"Nurse is bringin' a dinner tray in," he said before disappearing around the corner. She turned her eyes back to Tony.

"Speaking of practicing discretion...I got you a present."

"Really?" Tony smiled.

"You know the slot machine Wallace warned us was cursed?"

"That machine _is_ cursed," he said. "I fed fifty bucks worth of quarters into it..."

"I won twenty-thousand dollars," she quipped, and his eyes completed the look of question on his face. "Well, I was on a stake-out in a casino, Tony. I had to play something...anyway...I bought you out of your lease."

"Zee, you shouldn't have spent your money on me..."

"And I rented another apartment in my building in your name," she finished.

"What?"

"I don't need to hold onto that kind of money," she said. "Money can corrupt and destroy people." He watched her face carefully, and understood. "Besides...you needed a separate address on file," she smirked at him.

His face morphed into a huge grin, "You bought me an alibi..."

* * *

"What's the matter, McGee?" Abby asked when he grew quiet in the chair next to her. He had come to the lab to give Ducky and Gibbs some privacy earlier, then again when Gibbs left to go to the hospital. He was talkative up to this point, but it was obvious his thoughts had wandered elsewhere.

"Just thinkin'" he told her.

"'Bout what?" she queried.

"Couldn't sleep much last night...so I started going over the surveillance data from home." She squinted at him as she listened. He looked up at her. "The rooftop of the hotel across the street from where they dropped the money had an outdoor cafe. I managed to access the camera feed and get a view of Gibbs and Tony," he turned in his chair toward the computer and began pulling up the video.

"Why would we need that?" she asked. "We know they made the drop."

"I know...I was just trying to make some sense of what happened. At that point, Gibbs didn't really give us much information." The video popped up on the screen. "But what I saw on this video...let's just say, Gibbs didn't put this in the report." He clicked the play button and they watched.

"Where's Tony?" Abby asked, only seeing a blurry image of Gibbs.

"Just watch," McGee said. Then she saw Tony stand up from the ground. McGee paused the image as Tony held his gun to his head. McGee looked over at Abby's astonished face. He opened his mouth to speak, but she interrupted him.

"Ducky said he had a blood clot in his brain," she said to him. "That he- he had a grand mal seizure...it's common for a state of confusion to set in right beforehand..."

"That must be why he fell, then," he resumed the footage as they watched him drop.

"Tony wouldn't kill himself, Timmy," she seemed to be trying to convince herself as well. "It was the blood clot. He wouldn't do that," she looked at his face which was looking down at the keyboard. "He wouldn't, McGee!" she yelled. "And you can't let him know we saw this. It would really embarrass him..." He looked up at her as he swallowed. She was right...

* * *

"Penny for your thoughts, Jethro," Doctor Mallard said when Gibbs entered the morgue without uttering a single word, then made himself a seat on one of the cold tables. "That is, unless you came down here to _avoid_ talking to anyone?" Gibbs cocked his head, half-smirking as he decided to change his position on the table and lie down. "Or perhaps you would like some time alone to take a nap?" he went to get his hat.

"You don't have to go, Duck," he finally spoke. Ducky glanced over at his friend who was looking up at the ceiling. He set his hat back down and sat down in his chair, spinning it so he was facing Gibbs.

"I can't read your mind. So if you want to talk about whatever it is that's troubling you, you should probably speak up," Ducky raised his brow when Gibbs' head turned to look at him.

"Not sure where to start," he said, turning his eyes back to the ceiling.

"Well, the March Hare and the Mad Hatter once said, 'start at the beginning...and when you get to the end...stop'," he made a small laugh when he saw the corner of Gibbs' mouth curl up. "But perhaps I can assist you with where to start," he said, his smile fading a bit. "When you called me from the elevator in the hotel..." he watched him flinch slightly. "I have to admit, I was quite worried. Not only about Anthony."

"You don't have to worry about me, Duck."

"I know. But I do." They were quiet for a moment.

"In that elevator," Gibbs finally spoke, "I felt like I'd be sending half my team home in body bags." Dr. Mallard remained silent as he waited for him to continue. "Losing Ziva...felt like losing Kelly all over again," he confessed. It broke Ducky's heart. "I know it's not the same...Kelly was my baby girl..." Gibbs' voice choked on his words, and Ducky could hear his friend's breath hitch in effort to keep his tears at bay.

"But Ziva is like a daughter to you, just the same," he finished for him. Gibbs nodded against the table, blinking back what tears he could after one had escaped the outer corner of his eye and streamed down to his ear. "And she is still here, Jethro."

"I messed up. Put her in harm's way."

"Because you knew she could take care of herself."

"But she could've just as easily been killed."

"She wasn't, Jethro. You're questioning your judgment again and you _cannot _do that."

"My judgment," Gibbs sat up and threw his legs off the side of the table, "Put Dinozzo back out in the field with his own gun to his head!" he shouted in anger directed at himself.

"You based that judgment on _my_ medical opinion," he said as he stood. Gibbs squinted at him for a moment, then looked down at the floor.

"This isn't your fault."

"No, it's not. And it's not yours, either," he told him as he looked back up at him. "It was a ridiculous string of coincidence and consequence that none of us could have predicted." Gibbs considered his friend's words. "Blaming yourself will only cause you to pull yourself away from them. That's not what any of you need. They trust you. And you can't stop trusting _them_."

Gibbs looked back down at the floor as he thought. "And what do I do about Tony now?" he asked. "How do I know when it's safe for him?"

"Tony is going to be fine. He has a therapist, and he has friends who will listen to him when he wants to talk. And I'll make sure he goes to his follow-up appointments with his doctor."

"But what do _I_ do to help?"

"You do what you've always done. Trust him..."

* * *

**Ok I feel like it's time to put something up for you to read—its not really a spot id normally stop at, but its been long enough of a waiting period for u! Hope u like! I'll try to have more up before tomorrow night 3**


	18. Chapter 18

**So I thought I'd mention, I've had a migraine for three days, and that's why I've slowed down a bit on how fast I update...but I'm kinda used to having them. This is just unexpected bc I've had a preventative form of meds that was working very well till recently. Heh..it also inspired Tony's migraine—and lemme tell those of you who have never had one—there does come a point where you could easily feel like you wanna shoot yourself in the head. ;)**

* * *

"Two hours of my life I will never get back!" Ziva argued as she drove them home from the hospital.

"Okay, I'll admit that Superman Three wasn't the best of them," Tony said. "But it had its moments."

"Moments that would have been better spent gouging my eyes out of my head, perhaps."

"Zee-vah," he laughed.

"I can say one good thing about it," she said, softening. "It made me appreciate the first two a little more." She smirked at the face he made.

"At least tell me you'll watch the last one with me."

"A deal is a deal," she grinned. He returned the smile with his own.

"So tell me...when there's no more reason to protect my skull anymore, are you gonna go back to your usual brand of defensive driving?" his fingers made quotation marks.

"Something tells me we'll be back to driving in separate cars again soon enough." Tony's face fell blank, misunderstanding her words, and he became quiet.

"Are you breaking up with me?" he asked. She laughed and glanced at him, only then realizing it was a serious question.

"Are you seriously asking me that?"

"I dunno..." he shrank down a bit in his seat as she parked in front of their apartment building.

"Tony," she turned off the car and shifted to face him. "I only meant that when you are better, you will be driving your own car to work. Otherwise it might draw suspicion that we are together."

"Oh," he sat up, feeling a bit sheepish at his misreading.

"You are so cute when you are insecure," she grinned devilishly at him, her hand snaking over to his and tracing his knuckles with her fingers.

"Really...?" his mouth turned up as he straightened. His head moved toward hers as she nodded. His fingers brushed lightly a her jaw and neck as his lips met hers in a chaste kiss. "How'd I get so lucky?" he asked and Ziva laughed through her nose at him.

"After everything that's happened these past few weeks, what makes you feel lucky?" she queried.

"I _am _lucky. It's like our own Superman movie." She laughed again. "Went through some fairly dramatic and action-packed scenes. But we defeated all the bad guys; you with your superhuman-like skills, taking out the big shots. Hell...I'm luckier than Superman..."

"How so?" she snickered.

"'Cause I got the girl," he looked into her eyes, giving her the infamous Dinozzo smile. She grinned at him.

"I guess we are both pretty lucky," she kissed him again, a little longer this time.

As it deepened, they both felt a strong need to be closer. Ziva surprised Tony when she climbed over the middle and straddled his lap, continuing their kiss in a much more comfortable way.

His hands were suddenly all over her, pulling her to him. He had missed her...and never wanted to let her go again. "Maybe we should go inside," he said out of breath. She nodded in agreement.

* * *

As they entered the apartment and shut the door, Tony pressed Ziva back against it as he continued his fevered assault on her mouth. She matched his actions, and put her hands to the top of his shirts as she began to unfasten the buttons. Her mouth left his and trailed down to his neck as she got halfway down the shirt.

But then she felt him pull away, and she looked up at him as the back of his knees hit the arm of a chair, forcing him to sit that way. He was holding his hand on his forehead.

"Tony, are you okay?" she asked, filled with concern.

"Just a little dizzy," he said. "Room's spinning," he clamped his eyes shut.

"I should take you back to the hospital-"

"No," he protested. "I'm fine, Zee. Just a little lightheaded," he opened his eyes to find Ziva kneeling in front of him; fear taking over her features. His hands went to her face, "Don't look at me like that," he said softly. "I just had a major surgical procedure. Probably just the anesthesia still in my system."

"Are you in pain?"

"No, just dizzy is all, really. I just need to lie down for a bit. I'll be fine."

She helped him to the couch and sat next to where he laid, putting a hand on his chest. She _was_ afraid...though now she put on her best poker face for his sake. "I will get you some water," she said as she stood and disappeared into the kitchen.

Tony took a deep breath as he closed his eyes, his thoughts wandering. He was disappointed in himself; wishing the medical bullshit would just go away. Wondering when it would be over so he could just be back to normal...and be happy.

Ziva picked up her cell phone when she was out of earshot from Tony, and dialed Ducky's number.

_"Good evening, Miss David," _rang the voice on the other end.

"Ducky," she said in a hushed voice, "I am sorry to bother you, but I have to ask you something."

_"Not a bother at all. I'm just pulling into my driveway."_

"I just got home with Tony from the hospital...he is suddenly experiencing dizziness. Should I be worried?"

_"Anthony has an anticoagulant drug in his system. It's been known to cause some side effects, including dizzy spells. I wouldn't worry about it, too much, Ziva. Just keep an eye on him, and if it should get any worse, don't hesitate to call me."_

"Thank you," she said a bit relieved.

_"And do try to get some rest," _he added, _"Don't let him overexert himself this weekend." _She blushed at his words before responding.

"Would you mind coming by sometime tomorrow? His apartment needs to be packed up and I do not even want to mention it to him. He will try to talk me into letting him help."

_"Of course, my dear," _he snickered, _"You'll probably need some help packing though. You should ask Timothy and Abigail. I'm sure they'd be more than happy to tag along. They've been quite worried about the two of you."_

"They said that?"

_"Well, Abby wears her heart on her sleeve, as you well know. Tim, on the other hand, has a very different approach. He's been preoccupied and silent the past couple of days. Yes, I'm sure he would benefit from assisting you in moving heavy furniture."_

"Tony does not have any heavy furniture," she said after she'd laughed through her nose at his comment. "We just need to box up his personal things. The new apartment is already furnished."

_"You're sure you want to risk coming across, only God knows what you may find lurking in the deep recesses of his old apartment?" _he snickered.

"I am certain it would not surprise me," she grinned.

* * *

Dr. Mallard ended the call with a small laugh. But the smile faded, and he was left to his own thoughts. He would do the worrying for Ziva tonight. And he would pray that Tony wouldn't prove his assumptions wrong...

* * *

"Hello?" McGee answered his cell when it rang. It was late, and he hadn't been expecting a call...at least not from Ziva.

_"Hello, McGee."_

"Ziva, how are you? How is Tony?" he stood from his home computer.

_"I believe we are both fine," _she said. _"I was wondering if I could ask you a favor?"_

"Sure- of course. What do you need?"

_"If you are not busy tomorrow, I would like some help moving Tony's belongings to his new apartment."_

"Okay. Yeah, I can do that. What time?"

_"Early...if possible."_

"Okay. I can call Abby and see if she's free, if you want?"

_"That would be very helpful,"_ she sounded relieved. _"Thank you."_

"No problem. I guess I'll see you in the morning..."

* * *

"Abby Sciuto, reporting for duty, Ma'am!" Abby said as she entered the apartment in, what resembled all but the head gear of a haz-mat suit. Ziva looked up at her from the box she was packing on the floor.

"What is with the outfit, Abby?" she asked, "And don't call me 'Ma'am'. You know better."

"Right...sorry. Well, it _is_ Tony's apartment," she smirked. "I like to prepare for the worst. _And_ you gotta admit, this suit is pretty awesome." McGee walked in behind her, looking over her shoulder at Ziva.

"Hey," he greeted.

"Hey," Ziva replied with a smirk.

"Where should I start?" Abby waited for commands.

"You can tackle the kitchen," Ziva told her, "Since you are dressed appropriately for hazardous material."

"I'd consider it an honor, Ma'am! I mean Sir!" she corrected as she saluted and headed toward the kitchen. Ziva giggled through her nose at the silly girl and continued rearranging the box in front of her.

"Need any help in here?" Tim asked as he walked closer to her. She looked up at him.

"There is another box over there," she pointed to a pile of folded boxes on the coffee table. "Tony's DVD collection is larger than I imagined. I cannot fit them all in this one." McGee grabbed a folded box and opened it, securing the bottom before setting it on the floor beside the pile of DVDs. He sat down next to her and began stacking them into the box.

"Nothing X-rated, I hope," he commented.

"Surprisingly, no," she replied. "I have yet to stumble upon anything incriminating." There was a silence between them for a minute.

"Is he feeling any better today?" he asked.

"He was still asleep when I left Ducky with him," she said. "But he has not been complaining of anything other then the dizzy spells."

"How about you?" he asked and she looked at him. "How are you feeling?" he glanced momentarily at the bandage on her wrist. She squinted for just a moment.

"You do not need to worry about me, McGee," she said, not looking away from him.

"But I am...I-I do," his brow furrowed as he spoke. "You're like...my sister, Ziva," he said, and her features softened. "I mean- I didn't mean you're like Sarah. Sarah is...immature and-- sometimes irresponsible..." he stumbled over his meaning, "I meant, you're like a sister to me," his eyes went back to the DVDs he was packing.

Unexpectedly, he felt Ziva wrap her arms around his neck and pull him into a hug. Whatever insecurities he'd had about telling her how he felt, melted away in that moment, and his arms went around her back and returned the gesture. "When we thought you were dead..." he told her quietly, "I felt like...I failed you. What if I had been faster...why couldn't I have figured it out just five minutes sooner..." She pulled away and kissed his forehead before sitting back on her heels.

"You are more of a brother to me," she told him, "Than I could say of my own," her eyes grew glassy and she looked down at her box, closing it up as she blinked the tears back before they could continue to form.

"That's the nicest thing anyone's ever said to me," he told her, looking back down at his box as he fit the last few DVDs into it.

"Well...I am sorry," she stood to retrieve another box, "That I have never said it before." He grinned at her from his place on the floor.

"I'm really glad you're okay," he closed up his box and stood to get another and glanced around the room. With the scattered boxes and items waiting to be packed away, he hadn't yet made the connection until that moment...this was the room they'd watched Tony be tortured in. "Funny how different this room looks without the chair," he said.

"It helps if you think of it more as the room that we took Hastings down in," she said as she lowered a speaker into the box.

"Well, I can't help but think of it as the room where I couldn't hold onto the button," he said with obvious guilt.

"McGee..." she protested.

"How hard could it be," he turned to her, "All I had to do was hold down the button. I had _both_ thumbs on the damn thing and still-"

"Hastings knocked you over," she argued, "You can't blame yourself for an involuntary reflex tp catch yourself before breaking your neck."

"I wouldn't have broken my neck," he said turning to face her, "And it's not involuntary...I could've just as easily let myself fall without letting go..."

"If you hadn't caught yourself, the force of Hastings' body could have snapped your spine on the edge of that desk," she told him. "Then _you_ would be the one in the hospital and Tony would be standing here blaming himself for the fact that you would never be able to work again."

"Everything that happens to him because of that shock...that's my fault. He coulda killed himself up there with his gun to his head..." he stopped when he realized what he'd let slip out.

"How did you know about that?" Ziva stepped closer to him.

"I-" he stuttered, "I found a surveillance feed...don't tell him I saw it," he pleaded with his eyes. She thought for a moment as she looked at his uncomfortable features.

"I will not tell him," she said, "If you stop blaming yourself for what happened. No one blames you...not even Tony."

"He said he trusted me," he told her.

"Because he knows he can," she said. "You did not betray your friend," she moved closer to him. "And if you second-guess your abilities, you will only be allowing Hastings to continue his impact on all of us." McGee's eyes darted between both of hers as he considered what she'd told him.

"I hadn't thought of it like that," he said.

"In fact, he hasn't thought of much of anything besides how he could possibly be at fault for everything that's happened," they turned towards Abby who was standing in the walkway off the living room. Her eyes matched the sound of concern in her voice. "You can probably do a better job of convincing him otherwise, than I did."

"You didn't do a bad job, Abs," Tim walked over to her. "I just did a crappy job believing it."

"There you go again!" Abby threw her hands up.

"What?"

"Blaming yourself! You can't help yourself."

"Okay, listen," he grabbed her shoulders, "I'll try to stop blaming myself for everything if you stop being upset with me..."

"I'm not mad at you, Tim," she said, relaxing a bit. "I just don't wanna watch you self-destruct. I don't wanna come across another video with another friend going over the edge..." He swallowed at her comment.

"That's not gonna happen," he said with reassurance. She looked up at him with her eyes, though her chin was tucked down.

"Can you speak for all of you?" she asked.

"I can," Ziva said, and they both looked over at her...

* * *

Tony opened his eyes after he'd reached across the bed for Ziva and realized she wasn't there. He sat up and looked around, "Ziva?" he called. When there was no answer, he began to panic. His mind flooded with thoughts and images, trying to assess whether or not he'd been only dreaming that she was still alive—whether he'd simply gone crazy and imagined himself in a better world.

He sprang up from the bed and ran to the living room, "Ziva?" he called again, and saw Ducky coming from the kitchen.

"She's gone, Tony," he said. Tony couldn't breathe. "Dear god, Tony, I meant to your apartment," he went to him and took his arm, realizing his mind was in full panic mode. He helped him to the couch. "She left early this morning to pack up your things. She didn't want to wake you. I'm just here to make sure you were okay." Tony sat, head in his hands as he tried to will his breathing and heart rate to return to normal.

"What the hell is wrong with me, Duck? I feel like I'm losing my mind...I wake up and Ziva's not here, and suddenly I'm thinking something horrible has happened to her...and now I feel like I just ran a marathon..."

"I did sense your discomfort, and I don't think you're losing your mind," he explained as he slid a bottle of water on the coffee table, closer to the troubled man sitting next to him. "You went through a traumatic event when you believed Ziva to be...no longer with us, in Reno. Waking up to find her no longer where you believed she would be, made that moment come back to you clearly in your mind from your subconscious thoughts...and it triggered a bit of an anxiety attack."

"So, you're saying I _am_ crazy," Tony smirked as he picked up the bottle and opened it.

"Not crazy, Anthony. Human..."

"Well then I can't afford to be human," he said before taking a swig of his water. "Gibbs is never gonna let me back to work if I'm freaking out all the time."

"If you _freak out_," he put quotations on the phrase as he stood, "About having another panic attack, you most certainly will have another one," he turned back to Tony before entering the kitchen. "Are you hungry? I was just making myself a sandwich and wouldn't mind making a second one."

"Sure," Tony said. He wasn't hungry, but he knew Ducky would argue with him if he didn't eat something.

"Other than your anxiety," Ducky shouted from the kitchen, "How are you feeling?"

"Dizziness is gone," he answered, "As I'm sure Ziva informed you about, seeing as your here."

"Better to be safe, than sorry," he said, returning with two sandwiches. "Sometimes it helps to talk about the incident that triggers the attack." He sat and handed a sandwich to Tony.

"Now you're starting to sound like my therapist," Tony smirked and took a bite of the ham and cheese.

"Well, if you'd rather wait to discuss it with your therapist--"

"Nah, I don't mind talkin' to you, Duck," he said as he chewed a mouthful of sandwich that suddenly aroused his hunger. "As long as the whole 'doctor-patient confidentially' thing still applies."

Ducky snickered through his nose, "As long as you promise to swallow your lunch _before_ you begin." Tony looked at him from the corner of his eye, then swallowed.

"Sorry, Ducky," he said. He took another bite.

"To break the ice, I feel compelled to tell you that I have...come to my own conclusion of the uh...current nature of your and Ziva's relationship." Tony took his time chewing the current mouthful of food then swallowed before responding.

"You've been talking to Gibbs."

"He didn't tell me, but yes, I put things together when we spoke."

"What where you talking about?"

"At the time, your health."

"And since then?" he put the last of the sandwich in his mouth.

"Although Gibbs didn't ask for the same doctor-patient confidentiality, as you did, as a friend, I don't think he would appreciate my divulging specifics about our discussion," he looked at Tony as he nodded and swallowed the last of his food. "However, I suppose it'd be alright to tell you that...he is afraid." Tony smirked at him.

"Gibbs doesn't get afraid," he said.

"On the contrary," he retorted, "He's afraid of losing you and Ziva."

"He's not gonna lose us. What does that even mean?" he squinted. "Did he tell you something I don't know?" he turned his full attention to the doctor.

"You're not in danger of losing your job, if that's what you think it means. He's afraid of putting you in danger," he explained.

"It's part of the job," Tony laid back on the couch, "He knows that."

"Yes, well, I think what he fears has more to do with your reaction on the rooftop in Reno, to the alleged death of one of your partners. Which brings us back to why we began this discussion in the first place."

"He thinks I'd try to kill myself if something happened to Ziva..."

"You did try."

"I-" he became suddenly uncomfortable and sat forward, "I had a blood clot..."

"Confusion doesn't create suicidal thoughts. But you know that."

"I promised her I would never do it again," he said as he looked down at the floor.

"Gibbs doesn't know that."

"So what are you saying? That I need to promise him too?" he laughed. But when Ducky's face remained serious, his smile faded and he cocked his jaw. "Isn't there some way we could all just forget it ever happened?" Ducky did smile to that as he opened his own bottle of water.

"In an ideal world, Tony." Tony leaned back on the couch again as he watched Ducky drink. Then his gaze went to the wall before them.

"I love Ziva," he said. Ducky looked over at the agent. "I've been in love before- well...I thought I had been. But it's never been like this. I've never felt this way about anyone," he swallowed before he continued his confessions. "If anything ever happened to her, I would...be devastated. Probably never be happy again...but I made her a promise," he looked at Ducky after that. "And I don't intend to break it...or anything else I ever promise her." Ducky took a refreshing breath at Tony's word and patted the agent's knee.

"Rarely in one's life do we have the privilege of finding true love, Anthony. You're a lucky man to have the opportunity to experience it," he told him, then held up a finger, "Don't screw it up."

"Thanks for the vote of confidence, Ducky," Tony made a face at him and the doctor laughed.

* * *

Gibbs was sweeping the basement floor when he phone rang. "Yeah, Gibbs," he answered.

_"Hey, Boss,"_ Tony's voice said on the other end. _"Got a few minutes? Or are you busy?"_

"What do you need?"

_"I'm outside..."_

"Of my house?"

_"Didn't wanna just let myself in, in case you were in the middle of something."_

"Well, I'm not. So let yourself in. I'm in the basement," he ended the call and opened the small cooler sitting on top of the work bench, pulling out two beers as he heard Tony begin to descend the steps. "Ziva with you?" he asked.

"Nope."

"You drive yourself here?"

"Got a ride...Ziva's apparently packing up my old apartment," he said as he made his way to the bottom. Gibbs held a beer out to him, then thought for a moment and pulled it back slightly.

"Can you drink on the meds?"

"Doctors said a beer or two would be okay," he took the bottle as Gibbs held it out again. He pulled a stool over to where Tony stood, then got himself one and sat.

"Somethin' you wanna talk to me about?" he asked, opening the bottle.

"Not especially...but I got the feeling today like I should." Gibbs smirked and took a sip of his beer.

"This about Ziva?"

"No," he said quickly, then squinted. "Not really...well...not directly."

"Said I had a few minutes, Dinozzo...not all day."

"Right...I'll just get to the point," he looked down at his beer and opened it, taking a few gulps before setting it down on the bench. "I haven't really had a chance to talk with you since...what happened in Reno," he started. Gibbs looked down, uncomfortably. "I wanted to apologize for the way I acted..."

"Not your fault," he said.

"But it is," he retorted. Gibbs looked at him again. "I'm not gonna try and cover it up with excuses. I was gonna do it," he said. Gibbs' brow furrowed and he was saddened by the open confession. "In that moment..." he looked down at his beer, "I felt like I'd lost everything," he looked back at his boss as Gibbs swallowed. "I could sit around and say...yeah my head was killing me, and things had been absolutely insane for weeks. But none of that had anything to do with what was going on in my head up there," he looked away.

"Maybe the blood clot caused me to misfire a little...made me forget the family I still cared about...the people still here. 'Cause all I could think about right then was how much..." his head went down for a moment and Gibbs watched him take a breath in attempt to remain in control of what he was feeling. "How much I loved her," his voice cracked and he swallowed the offending noise, "And that she was gone...and there was...nothing else." He looked back up at his boss, "And I'm sorry for that; rule number six be damned. It was selfish." Gibbs was nodding, but not looking directly at him anymore. Tony saw the glassiness in his boss's eyes, and understood why he hadn't said anything in a while. "Ziva made me promise her," he told him, "And now I'm making you that promise," Gibbs looked at him. "It won't happen again."

Gibbs looked back down at his beer bottle as he thought about how to respond. Then, after a moment, he held the bottle up, meant for cheers, and Tony picked up the one he'd set down and tapped it against it. It was an acceptance of the promise...

* * *

**Seems like it took me forever to do this chapter...sorry! I'll have another out by tomorrow :)**


	19. Chapter 19

**So as I began writing this chapter, I became really sad. It's the closing chapter...gotta wrap up all the loose ends and bring the story to a satisfying close. But it feels like saying goodbye—and I find myself prolonging the process in hesitation. Yeah I can always do a sequel, but I think this story's been stretched out as far as it can be. Time for me to suck it up, wrap it up, and move on to the next one. So I hope this ending does the story justice and not disappointment, for all the readers and reviewers who have kept me going with your kind words...read on!**

* * *

_** ****Ziva's eyes grew wide under the debris that covered her...**_

Ziva snapped what seemed like her hundredth crime scene photo of the day. She looked over at McGee who was bagging evidence after her, then at Gibbs who was speaking with the witness. "Tony gets out tonight, doesn't he?" McGee asked her.

Tony had voluntarily admitted himself back into Bethesda as a precaution, and for the sanity of his team, nearly a week ago. "Yes," she grinned, and began helping him.

"Think he'll like what we did to the apartment?"

"I think he will approve."

"We all set here?" Gibbs asked as he approached them.

"Just about," McGee answered. "Looks like an open and shut case, Boss." Gibbs nodded.

"An eye-witness, plenty of supporting evidence, and a confession," Gibbs said.

"It's about time we got an easy case," McGee stood.

"Dinozzo gets out tonight, right?" Gibbs asked Ziva.

"With a clean bill of health," she answered. Gibbs smirked.

"That's good news," he was more than relieved. "McGee, you ride back with Ducky," he said. The agent decided against questioning him, and headed towards the van. Gibbs and Ziva walked to the car. They got in and shut the doors. Ziva sat, waiting for Gibbs to speak, as it was obvious to her that he'd wanted to. But he was silent for a long moment after he started the car.

"Is everything okay, Gibbs?" she asked.

"Yeah," he answered as he pulled the car onto the road. But he remained silent.

"It just seems like maybe you wanted to talk?" she tried again. He cocked his head.

"I'm thinkin'," he said. She started to get nervous.

"Forgive me, but if I have to sit here wondering what you going to say, I will go out of my mind."

"Relax, Ziva," he smirked. "I was thinkin' about askin' you and Dinozzo over for dinner tomorrow. But I think I only have one T-bone in the fridge." Ziva grinned, relieved and surprised.

"I will extend the invitation..."

* * *

Ziva wrapped a towel around her as after drying herself off from her shower, and made her way to the bedroom when she heard the front door being opened. At first, she panicked, going for her gun, but then she heard the voice.

"Ziva?" She heard from the living room.

"Tony!" she ran from the bedroom as he walked in setting down his bag on the floor. "I didn't think you'd be here this early," she said as he scooped her up into a hug.

"They let me out for good behavior," he joked as her kissed her. "God I missed you."

"I missed you too. I am glad you are back." He grinned when he realized she was just in a towel.

"I really...really missed you," he smiled deviously as he moved her backward toward the bedroom, kissing her with each step. She laughed through her nose.

"I was going to take you to dinner," she said as his mouth moved to her neck. He loosened the towel and it fell to the floor, his hands grazing over her skin as he nipped at the sensitive skin behind her ear, making her eyes drift closed. "Or...we can stay in," she breathed as the heat began to pool between them.

Their mouths met again as she assisted Tony in removing his shirt. The back of her knees hit the foot of the bed and it sent them both falling onto the mattress. She giggled at the surprised look on his face, then spun him onto his back, straddling him and giving him a sultry look.

Her mouth went down to his shoulder, then to his chest, making a trail of hot kisses that traveled lower and lower... She heard him groan before he flipped her onto her back again, crushing his mouth down on hers.

Then just as suddenly, he pulled his face away and looked at her.

"What's wrong?" she asked him when she saw the seriousness on his face.

"Nothing," he said, brushing the damp hair from her face. "I love you," he said, looking deeply into her eyes. She smiled, reaching up to stroke his cheek.

"I love you, too, Tony," her eyes darted back and forth between his, trying to read his thoughts. "What are you thinking about?" she asked him, the corner of her mouth turning up as she gently lifted her hips off of the bed to press against his, "Besides the obvious..."

He grinned at her playfulness, shaking his head, "Just you..."

"What _about_ me?" she said as he rolled over next to her, turning her to face him.

"Nothing in particular," he said, "I was thinking a lot about you while I was in the hospital. And the image that kept popping up in my mind was you in the shower...with your wet hair," he smirked as he played with the damp strands around her face.

A devilish grin appeared on her face then, "That is funny," she said, pulling her hand from the side of his waist and settling it on his chest, "Because every time I get in the shower now, I think about you..." His eyes squinted for a moment as images rushed into his head.

"Oh?" is all he could manage to squeak out. She moved closer to him.

"That sounds a bit like my reaction," she said as she playfully nipped at his chin, her hand moving lower on his belly. The picture she'd painted for him made the blood rush from his head to his groin.

"Feel like taking another shower?"

* * *

"I had a feeling this was way too easy," McGee said as he joined Gibbs and Abby in the lab. She had discovered through careful examination of the evidence they'd collection at the crime scene the day before, that something wasn't holding up with the confession.

"Your feeling was right," Abby said as she pulled up pictures from the scene onto the screen. "I ran all the blood samples pulled from the room, and they all belonged to the Petty Officer...except for one," she pulled up a photo of blood splatter. "The blood you took from the wall doesn't match our victim's."

"Eye witness?" McGee asked.

"I ran the DNA sample you took from him. It doesn't match his either. I'm running it through CODIS now, but without narrowing it down, it could take a while..." she tapered off as she glanced over at Tim's attire. "What's with the bolo tie, McGee?" she raised a brow. Gibbs glanced over at what Abby had pointed out.

"It came with the boots," he defended, and she and Gibbs looked down at his feet.

"Going for a new look?" she asked as she looked back at his face.

"These are Ariat Bronc stompers, Abby. They're three hundred dollar boots..."

"The boots are nice. I'm just not so sure about the tie..."

"Look, I ordered the boots in preparation from the Rodeo show in D.C today. I was getting ready to head out of my driveway when I was called in."

"Aw," Abby said, cocking her head sympathetically. "I didn't know you were a rodeo fan?"

"I'm not really...bought the tickets a while ago. It's a fundraiser. But it's all good...my date canceled anyway."

"You have a new girl? Why didn't you tell me?" she asked with a grin.

"She's not my girlfriend, really-just a friend-"

"You mind if we get back to the case?" Gibbs interrupted.

"Sorry, Boss..."

"Got anything else, Abs?"

"Other than this seeming similar to the Lansworth case? No. And Petty Officer Daniels was single...never married."

"The amount blood splatter was too significant to be a simple defensive wound," McGee said. "Which is why we assumed it was from Daniels."

"You think there was a second victim?" Gibbs turned to him.

"There were no indications of a body being dragged out," he responded.

"Maybe they weren't dead when they left."

"Could be a kidnapping...which would mean the Petty Officer wasn't the target," McGee concluded.

"But the neighbor, Alan Carter, confessed to the murder," Abby said, "And the eye witness, Harold Willis, said Daniels lived alone and no one else was there."

"They coulda been compromised," Gibbs said then turned to McGee, "Arrange for Carter to be brought to interrogation," he told him and McGee nodded and exited the lab to go up to the bullpen. Gibbs turned back toward Abby and set a Caf-Pow down in front of her.

"Thanks, Gibbs," she smiled as her turned to walk out.

"Good work," he said before he turned the corner.

* * *

"Hey, Ziva," McGee said when he entered the bullpen and went to his desk.

"Hello, McGee," she stood from her desk and walked to him, eying his bolo tie, "You may want to take that thing off before Tony has a field day."

"He's here?"

"Upstairs. The director wanted to talk with him."

"Well, I don't care what he has to say about the tie," he said picking up the phone, "I've gotta call and get Carter into interrogation." Ziva smirked as she headed back to her desk. McGee turned in his chair, quickly removing the bolo tie and slipping it into his desk drawer.

* * *

"Bet you're wondering why I called you in here," Vance said as Tony sat in the chair in front of the director's desk.

"I have a couple of ideas..."

"I went over your medical reports from Bethesda," he said, picking up a folder slightly off the desktop. Tony put on his best poker face in order to hide the nervousness that churned in his gut. "Everything seems to check out. What I wanna know is, do _you_ thing you're ready to be back?"

"Wouldn't be here if I didn't," he said, confidently.

"Gibbs told me you'd say something like that," he said. Tony squinted at the remark, unsure of what he meant by it. Then Vance looked down as he opened a drawer and reached in to retrieve something. "Welcome back, Agent Dinozzo," he said as he slid Tony's badge and gun over to him. "I don't wanna see these in my desk again."

~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_~_

Tony descended the staircase and entered the bullpen to find Ziva and Tim looking at the big screen. "What are we lookin' at, Probie?" he said as he walked up to stand between them.

"Information on a Mr. Alan Carter," McGee explained. "Confessed to murdering a Petty Officer in a case we were working yesterday...Good to see you back, by the way."

"Thanks, Cowboy," he responded. Tim squinted at him, though his partner was looking at the screen. "So, why were we called in on a Saturday if this case is wrapped up?"

"It's not, apparently," McGee said, turning back to the screen and pulling up the blood spatter picture. "There's a third person unaccounted for. Our eye-witness said he didn't see anyone else at the house that day."

"Dinozzo," Gibbs said as he walked into the bullpen behind them.

"Boss," he greeted him.

"You see Vance yet?"

"Yeah. Just now, actually." Gibbs nodded.

"Welcome back," he told him as he sat at his desk.

"Thanks, Boss. McGee was just filling me in on the case...I'm thinkin' the eye witness may know a little more than what he let on." Gibbs looked up in thought for just a moment.

"Ziva," he said, "Take Dinozzo... Pick up Willis and bring him in for questioning. Maybe some time in interrogation will jog his memory." The two agents hurriedly grabbed their things and headed toward the elevator. Gibbs turned to McGee.

"Carter is waiting there for you in interrogation now, Boss," he said, and Gibbs stood, motioning for McGee to follow him.

* * *

"You didn't kill Petty Officer Daniels," Gibbs said to Carter, who sat nervously on the other side of the table.

"Yes, I did," he responded. "I confessed. What else do you want from me?"

"I want the truth. And I don't think you're giving it to me."

"What makes you think I'm not telling you the truth?" there was obvious concern on the man's face.

"We found evidence that suggests there was someone else at in the house. You didn't tell us anything about that. Who are you protecting?" he asked calmly. The man remained silent.

*~.~*

McGee's cell rang as he watched the interrogation in the observation room. "What's up, Abby?" he answered.

_"I was looking at the DNA sequence from the blood splatter we couldn't identify, and I found something you might find interesting. While CODIS couldn't find a match, it brought up the next best thing. The third person you're looking for...is a relative of Alan Carter. Possibly his brother."_

"I'll tell Gibbs."

*~.~*

Gibbs' phone vibrated in his pocket, and he reached for it, slightly annoyed. He opened the text message then looked back up at Carter. "You protecting your brother?" he asked. Carter's head immediately shot up. "Are you trying to take the fall for a murder your brother committed?"

"No! No, Mikey wouldn't kill a fly. He's my baby brother...you got it all wrong."

"Well then tell me what really happened, or we'll have to bring him in as well."

"You won't find him," he answered as his face looked down at the table in dismay.

"Why not?" Gibbs squinted at him.

"Look, they're gonna kill him if I tell you..." he looked back up at the agent. Gibbs' mind started making connections.

"Who took your brother?" he asked him, "What happened in that house?" Carter looked at him as he breathed, deciding whether or not he could trust this man.

"Mike called me a few days ago," he started, "Told me him and his buddy, Daniels, got themselves into some trouble. Daniels bought some drugs from this guy...bought them for my brother. I was pissed when I heard that. My brother's been clean for over a year. But that's not why he needed my help. Guy he bought the drugs from was blackmailing Daniels...threatening to turn him in and get him thrown out of the Navy if he didn't pay him fifty grand."

"So I went down there...couldn't help them with the money—I don't have it. I was just gonna go knock some sense into the asshole, but when I got to Daniels' house...he was there. Somehow he found out Mikey called me. He killed Daniels and told me to take the fall, or he'd kill Mikey."

"Who?" Gibbs asked.

"Your witness...Harold Willis." Gibbs flinched as he realized two of his agents were on their way to pick him up....

* * *

"I hate dead zones," Tony said as he held his cell over his head trying to get a signal.

"I believe McGee said the same thing yesterday," she said as they walked up to Willis' home. "The signal gets better after you get off of this street." She knocked on the door.

"Rule number three, Zee...never be unreachable." She gave him a small laugh from her nose as the door opened a crack, the chain still on.

"What do you want?" Willis asked.

"NCIS," Tony answered, holding up his ID. "We need to ask you some questions."

"I already talked to you people. I've got nothing more to say."

"See, our Boss thinks you do. Our orders are to bring you in for questioning," he told him. They heard a loud crash come from somewhere inside the house and the door was suddenly slammed shut.

Ziva and Tony shared a brief glance before pulling out their weapons. "Ladies first," Tony smirked as he motioned to the door. She kicked it in with minimal effort and they both entered the house. "Mr. Willis?" Tony yelled.

"Tony," Ziva called to him when she saw Mike Carter tied up in a chair that had fallen over and knocked over a shelf filled with dishes.

"He ran out the back!" Mike told them.

"Help him out, Ziva," Tony said as he made his way out the back door.

He heard an engine start up and his head shot over to an old Chevy pick-up. Willis was in the driver seat, looking behind him as he started to back up.

"Stop the car, Willis!" Tony yelled as he aimed his weapon. Willis spun his head around and pulled out a gun, shooting aimlessly at Dinozzo. Tony dodged back into the door of the house, waiting for the sound of changing gears before looking out the door and taking a shot at the tire.

He hit the back wheel as the truck took off. Tony ran out and around the side of the house to aim at the truck again. He took another shot, noticing Gibbs' car pulling up the street and skidding sideways to block the truck from leaving.

When Tony saw the truck speed up in effort to ram Gibbs' car, he fired again, taking out the other back tire, and Willis started to spin out. He ran up toward the truck as Gibbs and McGee got out of the car and aimed their weapons.

Unexpectedly, Willis got out of the truck, protecting himself with the door and aimed the gun at Gibbs, ready to fire. Tony didn't hesitate as he pulled the trigger... and watched Willis fall lifeless to the ground.

Gibbs straightened up, holstering his weapon as he made his way over to Tony, "Where's Ziva?" he asked. Tony turned toward the house as she walked out with Carter. Relieved, Gibbs turned to Tony and nodded before heading back toward his car.

* * *

"When I told Gibbs we would pick something up on the way, I do not think he was expecting pizza," Ziva told Tony as they walked up towards the door.

"I've been craving it since I got home from the hospital, Ziva," he made a face at her. "Besides, are you sure he even remembered inviting us? There's no lights on in the house," he said as he looked over at the windows.

"Maybe he's in the basement?" she responded and rang the doorbell.

"He was still at work when we left...maybe we should call him," he said as he picked up his phone to dial.

_"Yeah,"_ Gibbs answered after a moment.

"You home, Boss?"

_"Yeah, come on in,"_ he replied and the call ended.

"He's here," he told Ziva as he reached out and opened the door. "You trying to save on electricity, Boss?" he called out as he flipped the switch.

As light poured into the room, he was received with an uproar of "Surprise!". There was a big banner up on the wall that said, 'Welcome back, Tony', and Abby, Ducky, Palmer, McGee and Gibbs stood beneath it.

Tony turned to Ziva, and she shrugged to indicate she'd also had no idea of the plan. "It was Abigail's idea," Ducky said as he walked over to Tony, taking the pizzas from him and patting him on the arm. Tony smiled as Abby ran up to him and gave him a big hug.

"Welcome back, Tony," she squeezed.

"Thanks, Abs," he squeaked from the pressure before she let go. McGee headed toward him with a box wrapped in a simple ribbon. "McGee, you uh...got me a...toaster?" he questioned as Tim handed it to him.

"It's a housewarming gift," he said.

"But I already have a toaster..."

"Yeah...well, I kinda...dropped it," he said. Tony squinted at him.

"Thanks, Probie," he said as he set the box down on the coffee table and made his way over to the kitchen where Abby had set up some trays of party food. They were all crowded around it, filling their plates with various items.

"Mind if I grab some of your pizza?" Jimmy asked Tony.

"Have at it, Palmer," he replied. "But don't hog all the pepperoni."

Gibbs walked over and handed him a beer as he opened his own. "Can't believe you volunteered you house for a party," Tony told him. He smirked and cocked his head.

"Abby didn't really give me a choice," he replied.

"And no one bothered to tell me," Ziva remarked, "Even though I was part of the plan involuntarily."

"Thought you'd give it away," Gibbs smirked. The corner of her mouth turned up at him as she remembered something Gibbs had told her once. _"Never cover for me, Ziva"_.

"I would not have ruined the surprise," she said. "But I would have worn something a bit more...festive."

"I think you look great, Ziva," Abby said as she had overheard the conversation.

"Thank you, Abby," she said.

"I was just gonna say that," Tony squinted at Abby.

"I said it first," she shrugged and made her way to the living room. Tony glanced over at Ziva as she laughed from her nose, and he took a swig from his beer.

"I meant to tell you earlier," Gibbs said as the two of them looked over at him, "You did a good job out there today."

"You mean other then me killing the suspect?"

"He had his gun aimed at my head, and I didn't have a clear shot. You didn't second-guess yourself. You reacted. And you saved my life..." he looked up for a moment in thoughtful recollection, "Again."

"I was just doin' my job, Boss," he said with complete modesty.

"Yeah," he nodded. "That's my point." Tony understood. He looked down at his beer, then up at his friends who were nearby in the living room. Then at Ziva who had wandered over to talk with Abby. He smiled to himself as he looked down at his beer again. Everything seemed to be perfect.

Suddenly there was a crash from the other room and they were startled. "Oh my god, Ziva!" they heard Abby say, and Gibbs and Tony quickly made their way to the living room. Ziva was on the floor, covered in what used to be Tony's 'Welcome Back' cake. "I am...so...sorry," Abby said, but couldn't hold back the laughter any longer.

To everyone's surprise, Ziva began to laugh as well, picturing how silly she must look covered from head to toe in frosting and crumbs. She wiped the goo from her eyes as she saw Tony move toward her.

"Here, let me help you up," he said as he took her hand. But he'd stepped in some of the mess, and as her began to pull her, his foot slipped out from under him and he fell to the floor as well. This refueled the laughter in the room. "Ow," Tony squeaked.

"Oh, Tony," Ziva laughed, then put on a more serious face. "No pain, no gain?"

He looked at her in disbelief. "You watched it without me?" She shrugged as the corner of her mouth turned up.

"I could not wait," she replied. He grinned at her response.

"I'll go get some towels," Ducky said as his laughter died down.

"Hear that, Boss?" Tony said looking over at Gibbs who stood mere feet away from them, "She used my own movie quotes against me." Gibbs smirked.

"Something tells me it won't be the last time that happens." Ziva laughed again through her nose as she made a smug face at Tony. Tony returned the face, then looked down. His grin turned devious as picked up a large chunk of the ruined cake and looked back at her.

"Do not even think about it," she said. But the grin remained and he didn't back down. "Tony..."

_**Her eyes grew wide under the debris of cake that covered her as Tony aimed...**_

* * *

**Geez I can't believe it's over … I hope this last chapter met your expectations! I wasn't sure how to end it exactly, but I knew I wanted it to be a happy ending. Let me know what you think :)**


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